Civilbuild has just completed construction of two of the most difficult bridge building jobs it has under taken but they were finished on time and on budget.
The bridges, on the Kempsey-Armidale road, at Devil’s Nook and Mungay, were built for Kempsey Shire Council.
Civilbuild’s managing director, Stephen Wood, stepped out from behind his desk to supervise construction of those two bridges and a third, also for Kempsey Shire Council, on the South West Rocks road.
“It was good to get back outside and direct those three jobs and take a hands on approach again,” Stephen said.
“All three presented real challenges but particularly the two on the Armidale road.
“‘I spent two to three days a week on those jobs and thoroughly enjoyed it.
“I had great crews to work with led by Steve Brown, Peter Baldwin and Robert Clarke.
“Steve supervised the piling for all three bridges, Peter worked on Devil’s Nook and the South West Rocks bridges and Robert on the Mungay bridge.”
Stephen said the Devil’s Nook and Mungay bridges presented considerable engineering challenges because of their location in steep country.
“These two bridges are high above the creek beds with deep, steep banks,” Stephen said.
“We had to demolish the old high, wooden bridges then build low level temporary bridges and access tracks to allow traffic to continue to flow.
“The side track at one bridge was only fi ve metres from the new bridge which presented additional problems with access and getting equipment on site.”
The height of the two Armidale road bridges demanded long spans and heavy duty planks which were cast at Civilbuild’s precast yard at Redhead then transported to the site.
The South West Rocks bridge, over Spencers Creek, presented different challenges.
“It is a tidal, salt water creek which created its own problems,” Stephen said.
“We had to partially fi ll the creek so we could access the site with heavy equipment.
“The ebb and fl ow of the tides also had a bearing on when we could do certain work.”
The piles and planks for Spencers Creek were cast in the Redhead yard but the headstocks and deck were cast in situ.
Civilbuild’s 80 tonne crawler crane from the precast yard was used on all three jobs.