Load restrictions for trucks, reduced speed limits and travel conditions have been slapped on motorists using a major Ipswich bridge after serious cracking was found.
Load restrictions for trucks, reduced speed limits and travel conditions have been slapped on motorists using a major Ipswich bridge after serious cracking was found.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads identified a number of fatigue cracks in welds and also brittle steel in the westbound Bremer River Bridge on the Warrego Hwy.
The cracks on the steel girder bridge, opened in 1958, were likely caused by many years of heavy loads carried across it.
Many trucks now using it were much heavier than those for which the bridge was originally designed, the department said.
After a series of structural inspections, DTMR determined that the structure of the bridge was safe for the travelling public.
But heavy and oversized vehicles were required to meet specific travel conditions.
The speed limit of the westbound lanes for all vehicles has also been reduced to 60km/h, for an extended and unknown period.
DTMR said the precautions were to reduce the risk of the cracks growing and to manage loads on the bridge while engineers carried out further inspections.
An eastbound concrete bridge, constructed in the 1980s, was not subject to any load restrictions.
The problem was uncovered after similar fatigue cracks and brittle steel in welded steel beams were found on the Barron River Bridge in Cairns, which has a similar design to the Bremer River Bridge.
The department said it was undertaking welding works to ensure the bridge remained safe for all road users.
It estimated that initial work would be completed soon, while further rehabilitation and strengthening works were scheduled to start next year in an effort to extend the life of the existing bridge structure.
The bridge presently carried about 30,000 vehicles per day, including 4000 heavy vehicles.
Posted by ConanTheAquarian
6 Comments
Not mentioned in the article but there is a speed camera enforcing the restriction.
Didn’t this start a long time ago?
F=ma
Except knobs in jacked up rangers, they can do 140 and tailgate whoever’s in front. That’s the law now.
Firstly, the standard cargo hauling trucks didn’t cause this though they may have added over time. It’s the late night hauling of full mining vehicles and literal houses and other heavy equipment that have hastened its demise. When I was working nights I would often get stuck behind the convoy they would have, they would slow down to a crawl over and under bridges so they can keep a close eye on clearances. They were talking about upgrading the mt grosby exit to accommodate the traffic build up in peak hours and raising the bridge to let bigger equipment through. That seems to have been nixed and they’ve just finished a weirdly placed slip road near the nursery.
Secondly, with the amount of time they’ve been fucking around they could have built two entirely new bridges. All they seem to have done so far is spend 8 months installing slip lanes and traffic lights so they can send said heavy freight on the stronger eastbound bridge.
imo if hauling mining vehicles have caused the damage, and they seem insistent on ensuring they can continue doing it, maybe the mining companies should just pay for new bridges that can easily accommodate their current use and over engineer for future use. Instead they’re trying to patch up the 65 year old bridge to “extend its life” despite never being designed for those loads in the first place.
This seems like old news, it has been 60 for ages, and the cameras have been back for awhile now.