Foxlow Bridge (pictured above in 2019) has remained closed after an inspection found several structural issues. Photo: Ashley Meyer-Dilley.
There’s still no solution to the chaos surrounding Foxlow Bridge after Queanbeyan Council rejected an independent engineering report’s recommendations.
Earlier this year, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) temporarily closed Briars Sharrow Bridge so a higher replacement bridge could be built.
Motorists were directed towards Foxlow Bridge.
But in late April, the council temporarily reopened Briars Sharrow Bridge after issues were found with the replacement route.
In an independent assessment, SMEC Engineering recommended the council push ahead with investigations into two options: a temporary Bailey bridge (with an estimated cost of $1.75 million) and construction of a $3 million permanent bridge.
While that approach was presented to councillors at a recent meeting, Councillor Mareeta Grundy called for a different strategy.
She said QPRC should reject both of those options (due to the cost and their delivery timeline) and instead investigate “more cost-effective and immediately available alternatives to previously advised solutions”.
In her motion, Cr Grundy pointed to the adaptive use of a nearby existing railway bridge corridor, a sidetrack to Briars Sharrow crossing or the use of a ford near Foxlow Bridge as examples of what the council could pursue.
Cr Ross Macdonald said the suggestions in the council meeting papers were “pretty disappointing” and backed the call for another solution.
“We have an iterative process here, where we will now go back and seek further advice on a raft of other options,” he said.
“I think it’s important that we do that, because what we want to demonstrate to the community is [noting the shambles, in a way, of the previous process] that we have looked under every rock and are investigating fully and seriously every option that is put forward.
“I think that does that.”
He urged his fellow councillors to reject the Bailey bridge (labelled as Option 1) because of its cost and as it would be installed when the Briars Sharrow Bridge reopened.
Cr Macdonald also asked about $75,000 in annual funding for Foxlow Bridge, saying the council’s website listed the money as having been allocated for immediate maintenance on that bridge.
In response, a staff member said they weren’t sure where that figure had come from.
“In terms of council’s road maintenance budget, they’re managed at a program and network level, rather than being allocated and tracked against individual assets,” the staff member said.
“As a result, expenditure is not routinely recorded or reported at a single asset level, such as Foxlow Bridge, in a way that enables straightforward retrospective extraction on it.”
The staff member also flagged that further research and investigations would be needed for any option the council chose.
“Those activities would be required at any rate, and that’s what represents a significant portion of the timeframes — even for the Option 1 and Option 2 under consideration.”
According to the SMEC Engineering report, there is no standardised cost for a Bailey bridge, which is normally acquired from other councils or the military.
But the meeting heard the Australian Army had refused to provide a Bailey bridge to the council.
“Their rationale was that they see themselves as an option of last resort, and this wouldn’t be an appropriate activity for them [to be involved in],” the staff member said.
Cr Bryce Wilson said that while councillors could consider alternatives, they needed to move ahead with something that the community could use.
“I think we are at the bottom of the barrel of options.”
Mayor Kenrick Winchester said any plans for the future of Foxlow Bridge needed to take into account its likely level of use when Briars Sharrow Bridge was reopened.
“If the community agrees that they don’t actually need a full replacement, [it means] we don’t need to spend millions of dollars out there,” he said.
“That’s actually a really good outcome … We know that the usage of Foxlow Bridge was actually quite low when Briars Sharrow was in action.”
A staff member told councillors that QPRC was in discussions with the contractor handling the Briars Sharrow Bridge works to adjust their timetable.
He said it would cost about $300,000 for a “one-month acceleration”, while the creation of a side track had been estimated at a minimum of $2.7 million.
Briars Sharrow Road is closed again as work on its replacement continues. In mid-May, councillors also agreed to keep Foxlow Bridge shut to all vehicular traffic indefinitely.
