Floods wreak havoc on region
• Serious flooding closed the Flinders Highway to Bridport at Ferny Hill turn off. Image Jeff Jennings.
By Taylor Clyne
October 19, 2022
Record breaking rainfall occurring late last week saw all access roads to North-East closed due to excessive flooding.
Extraordinary sights were seen in Derby where the Ringarooma River rose more than eight metres, lapping the edges of low-lying properties.
The Cascade Dam was overflowing and the Dunns Creek Dam, home of the Ringarooma Irrigation Scheme, was running heavily over the spill way which saw Cottons Bridge nearly covered.
The road to Ralph Falls was completely closed due to large trees down, however onlookers said the road itself was nearing its own waterfall.
The Blue Derby mountain bike trails took a significant hit with a large landslip on popular trail ‘Air Ya Garn’ and multiple green trails, including lake Derby, being closed and needing extensive works.
“We are looking at around a half a million dollar cost depending on engineering requirements to stabilise the landslip and whether it’s even salvageable,” Mayor Howard said.
Water gushed over Browns Bridge Causeway near Gladstone cutting off all access to the coastal towns and a section of road at Waterhouse just past Barnbougle was completely engulfed.
It’s understood a repair to the culvert on this section of the road will be around $60,000.
The Flinders Highway near Lefroy Road Pipers River was completely closed to motorists with a large section of the road to Bridport completely underwater.
A large landslip occurred on the Tasman Highway between Whish Wilsons and the Sideling lookout which closed the accessway for the best part of two days.
The extensive earthworks for the $120 million road redevelopment removed decades worth of vegetation which caused the loose dirt and rock to give way due to excessive water running through it.
Mayor Howard said it’s expected to be a $300,000 repair job on the Valentine Road bridge at Nabowla which will require temporary work done for residential access.
Lilydale and surrounds were some of the worst affected areas with access closed between Rocherlea and Lilydale with many places underwater.
Second River Road bridge gave way, breaking the bitumen in many places and still remains closed now.
Pecks Hill Road near Nunamara has been reduced to a single lane due to a landslip, while Targa Hill Road at the Tasman Highway end has a speed reduction in place due to damage to the road surface.
Clovelly Dairies off Sandy Points Road were unable to get their milk out for a little over twenty-four hours which saw them tip more than 100,000 litres down the drain.
On the plus side the staff were treated to a helicopter ride to and from work thanks to Unique Charters.
Industry Road between Dalrymple Road and Troopers Track was also completely closed due to flooding and there were multiple reports of significant water over roads throughout the municipality including St Columba Falls Road and just after the church at Springfield.
Motorists are asked to drive with caution on all rural roads across the region, with a number of road surfaces having suffered various levels of damage during the floods.
“General road repairs across the region are expected to cost between $100,000 -150,000.” Mayor Howard concluded.