BRIDGE work has begun for the Coffs Harbour Bypass with the arrival of piling rigs at two key sites.

The piling work is an early, foundational part of building the seventeen bridges needed for the bypass.

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Work will now start on bridges for the Englands Road Interchange, at North Boambee, and for the Korora Hill Interchange.

Transport for NSW Director, North Region, Anna Zycki said, “Bored piling for the bridges at these interchanges will be carried out weekdays from 7am to 6pm and Saturdays from 8am to 1pm and will take about two months to complete, weather permitting.”

The project team will build 42 piles in the Englands Road area and 29 for the northern interchange.

Ms Zycki said the Coffs Harbour bypass construction team would build more than 300 bridge piles across the alignment, with each pile taking about eight hours to complete.

The overall bridge piling work across the alignment is expected to continue into 2026.

“The work will include building pads on which the piling rigs will sit, drilling through soil and rock to form pile holes and installing steel reinforcement cages into the holes,” she said.

“We’ll then pour concrete into the holes to build the piles and, when the concrete is set, use jackhammers to remove any excess from the overpour.”

To minimise noise and disruption the bypass team will use a bored piling technique.

“Piling falls largely into two categories, bored and driven piles,” said Anna.

“Bored piling is much quieter and less disruptive than driven piles as they don’t require hammering, but there will still be moderate and consistent noise from the piling rig as it drills through the soil and rock.

“Towards the end of the digging operation there will be louder clangs when material is removed from the rig’s drill piece.

“Plant and equipment will be positioned as far as possible from neighbours and respite periods may be scheduled, where required.”

For more information and to sign up for regular updates on the progress of the bypass visit pacifichighway.nsw.gov.au/coffsharbourbypass.

By Andrea FERRARI