Timber from the cleared Nambucca Heads to Urunga Pacific Hwy route is being recycled for use on heritage timber bridges. Source: The Coffs Coast Advocate
Almost 150 timber logs will be used for the Heritage Timber Bridge Maintenance Progra, which requires hardwood timbers to help repair bridges such as Sportsmans Creek Bridge at Lawrence and the Clarence River Road Bridge at Tabulam.
Roads and Maritime Services officers worked closely with timber consultants to identify potential trees suitable for timber before major work started on the project.
“The trees are required to be certain species and meet a number of criteria including height, girth and be free of defects,” a Roads and Maritime spokesperson said.
“The suitable trees were all marked and their locations were recorded using GPS technology.”
The timber was inspected again after they had been cleared to identify which logs were suitable for reuse, looking at the dimensions and whether they had any termite damage or other defects.
“Suitable logs are then transported to local mills for processing into valuable products for use in maintaining Roads and Maritime timber bridges,” the spokesperson said.
Many old timber bridges are classified as state significant under the Heritage Act and remain in full service today.
The ongoing maintenance of these bridges can be expensive and time consuming and requires a high degree of technical skill, and the supply of increasingly scarce high-grade hardwood.
