Bodgy bridge bungle
Fix it says Council
You don’t see many white elephants in the Douglas Shire but there is one and it’s crossing the Mowbray River.
The new 65m long pedestrian bridge built by the State Government is currently a huge embarrassment to the State Government and the much-heralded Wangetti Trail will hit a dead end unless it’s fixed.
Douglas Shire Council have already given it a wide berth and refused to take control of the concrete castoff until the glaring mistakes have been corrected.
Mayor Michael Kerr didn’t mince his words when he told Newsport the Engineering Staff at council have discovered glaring mistakes in the bridge design.
“We’re not prepared to take the bridge on as an asset because of mistakes made, for example, the staircases are too steep and no handrail on, the ramp that runs to the north is extremely steep and there’s no rails on that either so people could go over the edge, there’s blind corners where people on mountain bikes could collide with pedestrians who could end up in crocodile infested waters” he said.
Mayor Kerr also pointed out the bridge has no proper drainage on it, so it pools with water every time it rains. “There needs to be seating, there needs to be shade and other things that a structure of this magnitude and a world class walking trail needs to have, and also we want an iconic place to see crocodiles and not just a concrete structure that costs ratepayers’ money” he said.
Newsport put specific questions to the State Government Department responsible for the bridge, but only one of those questions to the Department of Tourism and Sport was answered.
OUR specific questions were.
Will these things be fixed?
What time frame will that be?
Who were the contractors engaged to build this structure?
Was there a final inspection? And if so, who carried out that inspection? (The only question answered).
Their response to questions?
The Queensland Government is committed to creating world-class visitor experiences to reshape our visitor economy toward 2032 and has included $5.7 million in the 2022-23 Budget for Wangetti Trail.
Wangetti Trail was always predicated on Douglas Shire Council being a partner in the project. The Queensland Government has worked with Douglas Shire Council on every element of the project including the Mowbray River pedestrian bridge.
The Mowbray River pedestrian bridge has Development Approval from Douglas Shire Council and final building certification after inspections by two independent engineers. Currently, the pedestrian bridge is not in use because the design of the northern section of Wangetti trail is yet to be completed.
The trail leads up a garden path
The bridge bungling aside, the Wangetti Trail itself seems to have taken a turn for the worse. The trail direction has changed since the last time Douglas Shire Council were advised of its route and it doesn’t look anything like the last coordinates issued.
It’s now winding its way at the back of a residential estate, then down through Mitre Street, down Ulysses Avenue, and past people’s houses in Port Douglas. “That’s the last thing we want is an international trail going down footpaths and residential areas, so we’ve said to the State Government that’s not on, and they need to go back to the drawing board” Mayor Kerr said.
Seems like they’ll be awfully busy around that drawing board.
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