Betterment: Gayndah Mundubbera Road

North Burnett Regional Council

Gayndah Mundubbera Road – project summary

Gayndah Mundubbera Road is an essential freight and transport link for the North Burnett region, connecting the highly productive agricultural towns of Gayndah and Mundubbera.
The road was damaged in 2011 and rebuilt only to be redamaged in 2013.
Betterment funding from 2013 was used to increase the resilience of the two-kilometre section of road adjacent to the Burnett River that was washed out, relocating it 11 metres uphill.
New stormwater drainage works (including concretelined channels, culverts and scour protection) were also completed, improving functionality of the entire Gayndah Mundubbera Road.
The road has since been impacted by seven natural disaster events (one in 2015, one in 2016, two in 2017 and three in 2022) and has remained functional with only minor expenditure required to clean up and remove debris.

Restoration: $6,785,707
Betterment: $1,308,863
Avoided cost over 7 events: $47,499,499
Value of indirect benefits: $65,238,194 ($ value benefits per day x 135 days of impact to communities)
Total benefit over 7 events: $112,737,693

SAVi Tool assessment of indirect benefits

The SAVi tool has been used to consider the wider economic benefits for this project, by using a bespoke summary of indicators which have been assumed most relevant for the North Burnett Regional community. The analysis has been based on the estimated production revenue and number of people impacted per day during a disaster event. Table 1 provides a summary of the non-road benefits used in this analysis.

Table 1 – SAVi tool inputs Gayndah Mundubbera Road

Non-road benefits	Price ($)		%
1. Fuel cost	192	AUD/day	0.3 %
2. O&M cost of vehicles	12	AUD/day	0.0 %
3. O&M cost of roads	1	AUD/day	0.0 %
4. Cost of travel time	134	AUD/day	0.2 %
5. Air pollution	4,353	AUD/day	7.6 %
6. Noise pollution	743	AUD/day	1.3 %
7. Water pollution	653	AUD/day	1.1 %
8. GHG emissions	1,359	AUD/day	2.4 %
9. Nature and landscape	484	AUD/day	0.8 %
10. Crop and fruit revenue	16,338	AUD/day	28.6 %
11. Fish revenue	-	AUD/day	-
12. Livestock revenue	537	AUD/day	0.9 %
13. Access to essential items/services	20,000	AUD/day	35.1 %
14. Access to workplace and schools	12,000	AUD/day	21.0 %
15. Mental health	236	AUD/day	0.4 %
Non-road benefits in 2021 prices	57,041	AUD/day	100.0 %

The analysis resulted in a positive Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Net Present Value (NPV), indicating that the Gayndah Mundubbera Road Betterment Project was a viable project generating positive outcomes to the community. A summary of the results is outlined below.

SAVi Tool pilot results Gayndah Mundubbera Road

Benefit Cost Ratio	(BCR)	Internal Rate of Return	(IRR)	Net Present Value	(NPV)
Excluded non-road benefits	Included non-road benefits	Excluded non-road benefits	Included non-road benefits	Excluded non-road benefits	Included non-road benefits
7.57	8.52	83.9 %	90.8 %	$ 56,723,935	$65,238,194

Project images

Gayndah Mundubbera Road after betterment, North Burnett Regional Council.

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Gayndah Mundubbera Road (before)

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