Bridge at no risk of falling

Roads and Maritime Services' (RMS) Peter Hamilton sought to relieve any nerves motorists may have about the more than 40-year-old structure.

He offered reassurance as Dubbo MP Troy Grant announced the investment that's early stages will begin with the arrival of heavy equipment along the banks of the Macquarie River next month.

"We don't want to alarm people," Mr Hamilton said to a Dubbo City Council committee meeting on Monday night.

"There's nothing wrong with the bridge, it's just an important maintenance project."

Mr Hamilton told councillors he and colleague Andrew Hargreaves were at the meeting to seek the council's support as they progressed with the project.

The project manager said there were four aspects to the planned work and noted the "dip" in the east-west link, present almost from the time of its opening in 1969 amidst much fanfare.

The job would involve removal and replacement of the steel bearings at the half-joints, repair of shear cracking, an attempt to improve the sagging profile in the river span and stop further movements, and strengthening the bridge.

While the outcomes they wanted were definite, the team had been open to different design options and visual appearances.

They had sought the advice of a landscape architect because they realised the bridge was an important icon at Dubbo, Mr Hamilton said.

"He came up with some wild options, the majority of which we couldn't get to work structurally," he said.

"From those eight, we honed in on three."

They had been "quite excited" by the "arch solution", one of the three that also included portal frame and pier, but then found it posed problems when assessed against seven criteria.

"We returned to the simple but elegant two-pier option," Mr Hamilton said.

"The two piers don't look out of place (in the river setting)."

Their choices had the support of Mr Grant, who visited the site with Mr Hamilton yesterday.

"This is a very significant upgrade for such a vitally important bridge along one of our state's major highways," Mr Grant said.

"It is a key road link servicing the large amount of freight traffic in and out of Dubbo."

The state member also reported the experts had not worked in isolation.

"I understand that RMS has consulted widely with river users and Dubbo City Council to ensure each appreciates the nature of the work to be undertaken and in order to minimise the disruption the planned work will have on the river during this period," Mr Grant said.

A barge will be introduced to the area in coming weeks to start the process of ground investigation.

An environmental impact assessment will take place in July.

The detailed design and advance works will start next financial year, with construction expected to occur in 2014-2015.

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“The old lady” who predicted the LH Ford Bridge would fall down after “seven years” came to Dubbo City councillor Greg Matthews’s mind as he heard about planned works. 

Ethel Steadman moved to Dubbo aged 18 and in the years until her death in 1977 aged 94, carved out a reputation as a clairvoyant, according to a 2010 edition of a Macquarie Regional Library newsletter.

Cr John Walkom, who recalled her name for Cr Matthews at Monday’s meeting, said yesterday that “old Mrs Steadman” had been very much part of the character of the city.

In his lifetime she had lived in Darling Street between Cobra and Tamworth streets and lots of people had gone there to have their fortunes read, Cr Walkom said.

When a big dip appeared soon after the opening of the bridge in 1969, Mrs Steadman had predicted it would fall down.

Cr Matthews was amused after hearing a presentation from Roads and Maritime Services about a $6-million upgrade.

“The bridge has a few more years yet,” he said.