Flood damage repair underway

Maintenance crews are working to repair damaged roads across the Wimmera following significant rain events.

Horsham Rural City municipalities and Hindmarsh, Northern Grampians, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack shires were eligible for a joint federal, state and territory government ‘Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement’.

The funding came into effect in October to assist the recovery process and alleviate financial burden after a natural disaster.

Hindmarsh shire acting chief executive Jessie Holmes said all three of the council’s maintenance grader crews were working on affected gravel and earth roads.

“Racecourse Road, Dimboola; Never Never Road, Gerang; Geodetic Road, Tarranyurk; and Werner Road and Pearces Dam Road, Jeparit are the current priorities,” she said.

“Priority is made based on road classification and safety, however, prior to Christmas, the council made a number of lower classification earth roads, which are not in our high-class roads, safe for use due to the severity of their damage and need to accommodate harvest traffic. These included Palm Road, Lorquon, Schwedes Road, Glenlee; and Borgelt Road, Dimboola.”

Ms Holmes said a higher percentage of earth and gravel roads were affected.

“Our sealed road network does have a number of significantly impacted sections, which the council is seeking federal disaster funding to rectify,” she said.

“The pavement failure in these sections due to continuous water damage from October to December will be unable to take place until the subsoil moisture is completely dry.”

She said sealed road shoulder grading was a priority during autumn.

Northern Grampians shire manager of operations John Hunt said in-house road maintenance crews addressed a large proportion of the immediate emergency-defect restoration works to ensure the road network was operational.

“The second phase of this work has commenced, with flood recovery team contractors working through the immediate road restoration work,” he said.

“In-house teams have now resumed their normal maintenance programs but will continue to support the flood recovery team as needed.

“The flood recovery team are currently working in the Winjallok area on the Barkley Gap Road with works recently completed in the Traynors Lagoon and Cope Cope areas.”

Mr Hunt said the majority of damage occurred to the shire’s gravel road network, with stripping of gravel, washouts and damage to floodways.

West Wimmera Shire chief executive David Bezuidenhout said road maintenance crews worked year-round.

“Our council has not been impacted as significantly as most other councils, but the higherthan-average spring rainfall has caused some damage,” he said. “The damage is throughout the shire and also on the arterial roads, for which we undertake maintenance on behalf of the Department of Transport.”

Mr Bezuidenhout said prioritisation took place in accordance with the council’s road management plan.

“The plan defines our response to hazards and defects and also how we prioritise in accordance with the category of road,” he said.

“This all needs to be managed in the context of available funding.

“We have our normal maintenance activities occurring at the same time as our capital works.”