General News
15 March, 2025
Bridge takes 100mm dip
THE TRANSPORT Department has been called to make an urgent inspection after a sudden 100mm drop of a bus route bridge. Retired bridge and road inspector Barry Kennedy said there could be no guarantee of the Boort-Charlton Road bridge integrity...
THE TRANSPORT Department has been called to make an urgent inspection after a sudden 100mm drop of a bus route bridge.
Retired bridge and road inspector Barry Kennedy said there could be no guarantee of the Boort-Charlton Road bridge integrity without an inspection.
Mr Kennedy said he had reported the bridge over the Waranga Western Channel near Boort to both the Transport Department and Goulburn Murray Water.
“It dropped all of a sudden. I was there (again) the other day and two trucks went over and I didn’t feel a thing. Then there was a bus and the span was very springy,” he said. “There was a fair bit of movement in the deck.”
Mr Kennedy said GMW had told him it could make an inspection when the channel levels were lowered in May.
“But is needs to be inspected now. It may not drop again but then again, it could,” Mr Kennedy said.
“This bridge is on a school bus route so the problem cannot be ignored.”
A 40kmh speed limit has been put on the bridge, near Henderson’s Road However, Mr Kennedy said the risk remained that the bridge abutment would drop more and put safety in jeopardy.
According to Mr Kennedy, who had been an accredited level two inspector with VicRoads and says he had inspected hundreds of bridges and culverts in his career, the problem with the Western Waranga Channel bridge was not its surface. “The issue is underneath,” he said.
“The bridge is definitely the responsibility of the Transport Department.”
Department of Transport and Planning data from 2023 shows the section of road is used by almost 200 vehicles a day, including school buses. The department has been contacted for comment on works planned for the bridge at Henderson’s Road.