VIDEO | Council's hands full with major road repairs
STORM DAMAGE
A massive 60-metre-high landslip near Daintree Village is among a swag of severe weather-related repairs that have tested Council crews in recent weeks.
New drone photos and footage has revealed the extent of the massive Upper Daintree Rd landslip after Council crews finished temporarily fixing and securing the area.
It comes as the contractor continues installing 148 gabions to fix a landslip on Cape Tribulation Road at the Alexandra Range after recent rain delays.
Douglas Shire Council Mayor Julia Leu said crews were striving to fix four significant landslips.
“The effort required to complete all of these repairs is phenomenal,” she said.
“To put it into some perspective, the Upper Daintree Rd landslip was twice the size of the one that occurred on Murphy Street in Port Douglas last year.
“It was a hard slog for our crews to re-open that road, remove debris and get the shire ready for the coming tourist season.”
The two other significant landslips are located on Ponzo Road at Shannonvale and Syndicate Road at Miallo. A landslip on Mossman-Daintree Rd at Rocky Point has been repaired.
The interim repairs completed on Murphy St held strong during the recent wet season and engineers are now finalizing design options for a permanent solution.
Priority has been placed on clean up and restoration of roads to connect communities, enable tourism and allow access to markets for primary producers Council has put an emphasis on critical disaster infrastructure such as river gauges, weather systems, flood cameras and access roads.
Mayor Leu said the local recovery team would continue working with the Queensland Reconstruction Authority to restore the region.
“Council is striving to not only complete these repairs, but continue the level of service required and we ask for patience during this time,” she said.
The popular 4WD CREB Track remains closed due to unsafe conditions.
FAST FACTS:
- $16 million damage bill
- 32 roads were temporarily closed with only one remaining closed. Speed and/or lane restrictions remain on a number of roads.
- All townships, outlying areas and key transport are now accessible although some are restricted access due to damage and/or repair work underway.
- Ongoing road damage is occurring due to road saturation and breakup across the Shire on Local and State roads
- Five bridges were inundated with all reopened
- Four significant landslides have occurred to four separate roads. Dozens of other minor slips occurred and continue to occur with normal rainfall events.
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