Allenders Bridge on Warrak Road to be replaced
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Work to replace Allenders Bridge on Warrak Road east of Ararat has begun this week.
Ararat Rural City Council CEO Dr Tim Harrison said the bridge – next to the Hopkins Correctional Facility – had to be replaced due to structural issues.
Dr Harrison said work started this week with the closure of Warrak Road and the demolition of the current concrete structure. The work is expected to take approximately six weeks, weather dependent.
“The current bridge has had a load limit on it for some time because of structural issues, which has limited the type of heavy vehicles that have been able to use the road,” he said.
“The new bridge will not have a load limit, which will allow all vehicles to use the bridge again.”
Dr Harrison said detours would be in place along Warrayatkin Road and Down Road while Warrak Road was closed, however local traffic will still be able to access their properties and prison staff would be allowed through to their workplace.
“Warrayatkin and Down roads are both gravel roads so we encourage drivers to take care and drive to conditions when using the detour.”
The bridge project totals $443,000 that is being funded by Ararat Rural City Council and the Federal Government’s Roads to Recovery program.
Dr Harrison said work was recently completed on a culvert bridge on Down Road in April, which has enabled the detour to be put in place.
In another roads project, Ararat Rural City Council would carry out emergency repair work to a bridge on Williamsons Road, Wickliffe, over the next few days.
Dr Harrison said this urgent work required the closure of Williamsons Road until Friday 31 May inclusive (weather dependent), and apologised for the last-minute road closure.
“Structural issues with the bridge were identified during a routine inspection and we really needed to do the work immediately,” he said.
Anyone with questions about the Williamsons Road bridge work can phone the Council’s Daniel Ferguson on 5355 0904.
Image above: the new culvert bridge on Down Road completed in April.