A Tuesday morning breakfast marked the end of an era for the Violet Street bridge which will soon be demolished to make way for a new structure.
Narrabri Shire Council held a ‘brekkie on the bridge’ to celebrate the almost 51 years the bridge has served as a second crossover across the Narrabri Creek.
In its early years, the bridge was particularly vital for the town during the construction of the larger highway bridge.
Guests on Tuesday enjoyed bacon and egg rolls and coffees while reminiscing about the importance of the Violet Street bridge.
Mayor Darrell Tiemens and council officials explained the detail that has gone into planning the new $7 million bridge.
Residents heard that constructing a higher bridge, not as high as the highway bridge, could act as a barrier during floods and impact nearby properties.
A bridge as high as the highway bridge would be an enormous project costing as much as $30 million.
The new soon-to-be-constructed Violet Street bridge, however, will remain at the same height as the last.
It will boast an unlimited load capacity and will feature pedestrian access on both sides.
The bridge’s construction has also been made possible with the contribution of $5 million through the Infrastructure Betterment Program jointly funded by the Australian and NSW governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
“But now, due to age, declining load capacity and the need for improved flood efficiencies, the time has come where a new structure is needed to continue to serve our community,” Cr Tiemens previously said.
“The new bridge will be a safer, wider bridge with unrestricted load capacity, which will cater for all vehicles along with pedestrians and cyclists – including a separate shared pathway on each side of the new structure.
“This will ensure the new Violet Street Bridge will again cater for our community for many years to come.”
The new structure will also decrease the time required to remove barriers during flood events – reducing disruption times for residents and road users during these events.
