Legislative Council, Wednesday 22 March, 2023

Ms FORREST question to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Mrs HISCUTT

The Government recently stated, 'repairs to the existing Cam River Bridge cost $1 million'.

(1) Can the Leader please provide a breakdown of these costs to cover all components from additional traffic management to engineering expertise, materials et cetera that were required to complete the repairs;

(2) who is required to pay for these repairs? Please provide a full breakdown of apportioned costs if more than one entity;

(3) how much, if any, is recoverable under either state or Australian Government Disaster Relief Funding relating to the October 2022 flood event; and

(4) what is the status of the review investigation into the cause of the damage the Cam River Bridge, including the expected or actual finalisation of this report?

ANSWER

I thank the member for her question and I am glad we have quite a few answers, even if you do not like some of the answers.

(1) The total overall cost is $1 860 177 and that comprises: fabrication of formwork, $185 016; concrete supply, $29 852; diving operations, $146 469; earthworks, $111 540; project management, $151 430; access equipment, $31 126; traffic management, $206 477; and consultants' fees, $224 269.

(2) The Department of State Growth is paying the costs.

(3) Under the Disaster Recovery arrangements, the Australian Government's assistance is intended to support relief and recovery measures delivered by the states in relation to eligible disasters which complement other state based strategies such as insurance and natural disaster mitigation planning and implementation.

The Department of State Growth will submit all costs relating to the October 2022 flood event to the Department of Premier and Cabinet as part as the broader Tasmanian submission to the Australian Government under the disaster recovery funding arrangements.

The Cam River Bridge is considered to be an essential public asset under these arrangements and state expenditure for emergency works and immediate reconstruction costs can be claimed for reimbursement, assuming state based insurance thresholds have not been met. Detailed claims are required to be provided to the Australian Government and the amount of financial assistance provided is determined by the Australian Government based on exceeding certain expenditure thresholds for the total claim under each item. Assistance is expected to be between 50 and 75 per cent of total costs of emergency works and immediate reconstruction costs for all essential public assets.

(4) The Department of State Growth's position is that the damage was caused by the October weather events, the large increase in water and speed of water flow from the recent floods was the main cause of material being washed out from under one of the bridge piers.