Just eight days to bridge gap in crucial access link

Ordinarily, truckies tooting their horns as their convoy rolled through the main street of town in the middle of the night would not receive a hero’s welcome.

But Monday 10 February 2025 was no ordinary day and the almost 300 trucks driving into flood-bound Ingham was certainly no ordinary convoy. 

For Far North Queensland communities isolated for eight days after floodwaters washed away part of a bridge on the Bruce Highway and cut the alternative inland road freight route the convoy was a godsend, delivering badly needed supplies.

That the convoy was able to get through was testament to the hard work of road crews from Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR).

Rewind to 2 February 2025 when Ollera Creek was in flood, swollen by days of heavy rain from a stubborn tropical low that simply refused to budge.

During the first 12 days of February 2149 millimetres of rainfall was recorded at Mutarnee, more than four times the average rainfall there for the entire month of February.

Incredibly, almost 1500mm fell in the first three days.

Something had to give. 

And so it did on the afternoon of 2 February, spectacularly and disastrously.

Raging floodwater washed away a section of the Ed Kratzmann Bridge over Ollera Creek at Mutarnee, about 45 minutes north of Townsville.

Understandably with supplies to the north disrupted, including essentials like food and fuel, isolated communities were deeply concerned.

Once floodwaters receded to safe levels, TMR prioritised emergency works to reopen this crucial link.

Urgent inspections were undertaken on 3 February to assess the damage and plan emergency repairs.

With assistance from the Australian Defence Force, work commenced on 5 February to build a temporary bridge structure to get critical emergency services and supplies into isolated areas.

The single-lane bridge opened the next day for emergency vehicles only, operating during the day, with emergency works undertaken at night.

TMR fast-tracked repairs to the bridge to reopen it to heavy vehicles on 10 February allowing the convoy, carrying its cargo of essential goods and equipment, to roll into Ingham and eventually to Cairns.

After additional works, the Ollera Creek bridge reopened to general traffic the following day, just eight days after it was cut.

The effort to reopen the bridge was nothing short of herculean.

TMR crews worked a cumulative total of about 1,200 hours, the equivalent of working 24/7 for nearly two months, in ongoing heavy rainfall to reopen the bridge.

A day shift of 12 workers managed site operations and logistics while a night shift of 10 workers focused on preparing materials and equipment to ensure continuous progress.

Approximately 50 full-size dump trucks were used in the repair.

They delivered more than 13 cubic metres of concrete, 960 tonnes of 500mm foundation rock, 650 tonnes of 300mm embankment rock, 90 tonnes of sand, 400 tonnes of recycled crushed concrete, and 88 tonnes of asphalt.

Once the Ed Kratzmann Bridge reopened, further work was undertaken including upstream rock placements to protect the reinstated approach embankment. 

The recovery works are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments through the DRFA.