2 July 2007

Point Hut closed - Tharwa F**ked

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Over on Youtube mddawson1 has posted some footage of the closure of Point Hut crossing over the last few days due to flooding. It’s only a minor flood but mddawson1 makes some interesting and valid observations which I’ve added along with the footage:

“Due to the rain & snow the Canberra region has recieved over the past week, the Murrumbidgee River in south Canberra has flooded the Point Hut crossing. This was a minor flood but it has caused the crossing to be closed to traffic for 2 days.

The residents of Tharwa who previously had a 5km trip to Canberra until the closure of Tharwa Bridge in sept 2006 have been travelling 15km through Point Hut crossing since then. Due to the crossing being flooded they now have to travel 40km through Cotter to get to Canberra.

NOTE: Apologies for the overly dramatic music in the clip – I love Sculthorpe’s music & I have been wanting to use some for a while now. Also apologies for all the typos – the footy on TV was calling me & I neglected to proof read what I had typed.”

Footage below…

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VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt4:09 pm 04 Jul 07

Maybe those lazy Revolve pricks could use all their leftover broken lamps and bicycle bits and make a bridge for the Tharwans.

Why can’t some backyard blokes from Tharwa go out and knock themselves up a bridge then if they want it so much ?

Oh that’s right, the Government should pay for it.

As an alternative, an entrepreneurial Canberra/Tharwa organisation could install a pontoon, if it was too unsteady to carry vehicles, alternative arrangements could be made to provide a vehicle for use in Canberra (discounted rate from Thrifty etc), for excursions into the big city.

The only incompetence I see here is the ability of the Tharwa community to impress upon the Government that their situation is more dire than an Al Grasby statue or an Arboretum, which really does smack of a bunch of whingers with no real problem.

And i’m not sure, but I vaguely remember hearing that approved plans already exist? That speeds things up a bit.

I would have thought one could have been built quicker than a year

Unfortunately, unlike most backyard pergola building exercises, it’s not just a matter of some blokes turning up with tools and materials, and knocking up a bridge.

Lets scratch-out a rough process:

1. Tenders for design circulated
2. Tender process performed & awarded
3. Winning tenderer performs surveys, and completes a draft design
4. Design circulated, with the usual rounds of changes, possibly involving re-surveying etc.
5. Design finally approved, and submitted for planning approval.
6. The planning process then takes a few months.
7. If they’re lucky, plans are approved without change. If not, go back to step 4 and repeat.
8. Tenders circulated for construction
9. Tender process blah blah
10. Tender for construction awarded
11. Construction commences within a few months (hopefully)

This is probably close to worst case scenario.

From the Stateline transcript it seems that the bridge is expected to be completed by October 2008.

I heard that the army had offered to build a temporary bridge until Stanhopeless and Hargreaves could get the shit together, but Stanhope refused. What concerns me most is that ABC TV and the Canberra Times have refused to run anything on this issue – even a letter I wrote to the editor.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt8:35 pm 03 Jul 07

Word has it that there’s 10 mil in cash hidden in the crotch of the Al Grassby statue.

I’m sick of studies and working parties too.

And when they just do what they want anyway it is even more annoying (hospital parking the study they paid for recommended against the ticket machines).

The opposition should add up how much has been spent on these studies.

errr, $10 million does not grow on trees. In the meantime the study have shown the bridge has had it.

BTW the bridge in Gundagi is closed to all traffic.

“My suggestion, demolish the existing wooden bridge. Build a steel and concrete replacement that looks as close as possible to the existing one.”

Sounds like a great idea, but the heritage nazis have already started the battle to save and restore the 1895 constructed bridge (apparently the oldest bridge in the ACT). So in addition to constructing a new bridge the road will have to be realigned – adding to the time required to reopen the road.

Pandy – if you are correct in assuming the Govt is broke, then spending $11 Mill on a glassworks (for example) would be negligent.
I’d like to know how many “studies” the govt has commissioned in the last 5 years. Every time Katy Gallagher is interviewed she talks about developing a “plan”.
It’s the same with the water crisis – we currently have the water2water proposal, 2 years ago we had a future options study – nothing concrete happens at the end of these studies.

It’s time to stop planning and start doing.

Yes, bridges are meant to creak and move to a certain extent. Just stand on the covered walkway from the Neptune St carpark into David Jones in Woden and you can feel it move and hear it creak a bit.

However, that is a steel, post stressed-pre tensioned bridge that has only two anchor points, one at each end. The Thawra Bridge on the otherhand has multiple supports underneath, that go into the river bed. Aside from the movements and sounds being far more significant than the smaller bridge in Woden, a plank of wood fell into the river when the rider went over the bridge.

I would also add that the previous time they closed it, they allowed pedestrian and cycle access. Now there is no way to cycle across or even to walk easily. If they don’t want even bikes and walkers going over it, what hope is there for vehicle trafic.

My suggestion, demolish the existing wooden bridge. Build a steel and concrete replacement that looks as close as possible to the existing one.

I agree that the Tharwa residents had it tough while Point Hut Crossing (PHC) was closed last week.

However, lets get something cleared up. The diversion via PHC is not quite what is claimed.

A trip from Tharwa to Conder shops, the location of the nearest Woolworths, via the Tharwa Bridge is 7.2 km (map).

The same trip via PHC is 13.4 km (map).

While it suits the Tharwa residents arguments to round the 7.2 down to 5, and the 13.4 up to 15, it is not a true reflection of the issue.

The idea is for bridges to creak and move.

If they were rigid they would fail straigth away.

In saying so – keep the bridge for historical reasons – and build low level bridge – lower than present – highter than point hut….

Under no circumstance should the existing Tharwa Bridge be reopenned. While I appreciate its historic value, I feel that in terms of public safety… its time has come.

I was on the bridge just after they finished fixing it last time. They said it was now structurally sound. Standing on the bridge, I didn’t get the impressions of stregnth. Certainly no more stregnth than wafer! The wood looked appauling, and when a bike rider came over the bridge, the whole freaking thing creaked and shook. I wouldn’t let my dog run over it.

Get a move on Stanhope, give Thawra new bridge. Surely he who signs blank cheques for jails can fork over a few mil for a bridge!!!

Err, Tharwa residents wanted their old brifge back. Goverment commission s a study. study finds it is rotton to the core. requires heavy timbers no longer in stock. Timbers have to be cut-down and seasoned for 12 months or more. will take a couple of years to fix. Govermnet decides better to build a new bridge. Government is broke. Goes thru the budget cycle to appropriate funds. Gets funds. Has to commisssion a study on the bridge design. Say it will be built by late 2008. Tharwa residents still want their old bridge back.

the GDE was delayed by protesters and by the Fed Govt.

There is no excuse for the Tharwa delay.

So again the majority of ACT taxpayers are being asked to support the lifestyle of of a minority.

The ACT budget has $9.5 million allocated to rebuild the Tharwa bridge, I reckon that’s pretty good compared to how long it took to get the GDE underway – especially when you consider the $$$ per capita (Gungahlin Vs Tharwa).

Vic Bitterman8:50 pm 02 Jul 07

Cool, my burnouts as done on the Point Hut Crossing concrete are now on Youtube!!!!

Worst. Drought. Ever.

The sooner we get rid of Stanhope and his crew of yes-people, the more liveable Canberra will become.

Just as long as we don’t replace the current lot of incompetents with the farce that is the ACT Liberals.

I suspect the progress on (re)building the Tharwa bridge is firmly at the feet of the Arogant Inebriate. He obviously has a problem with the very existence of Tharwa.

Contrast the tortise like speed resolving this problem with the alacrity shown in stopping the Tharwa residents (re)opening the local school, and locking up the Revolve site in the middle of the night.

We are ill served by this pack of idealogically driven turds!

Money for a new Tharwa Bridge was appropriated in the last budget. I guess decent bridges don’t appear overnight.

That’s ALOT of water!

I really feel for the people of Tharwa – I live on the other side of the Cotter and occasionally do the run to Tharwa as a slow relaxing drive. But never would I want to have to use that road as a huge part of my daily commute.

C’mon Stanhope – do your bl@@dy job and fix the Tharwa Bridge once and for all.

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