Why the Singing Bridge is more important than most users realise Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 Traffic backed up in Hawks Nest as the road surface at the Bridge was urgently repaired. RECENT roadworks conducted by MidCoast Council upon the Hawks Nest end of the Singing Bridge set up traffic queues, but also offered a chance to reflect on the fundamental utility of the Bridge. Describing the bridge that connects the twin towns of Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens as ‘critical infrastructure’ may mean nothing until its normal use is hampered by necessary road works from time to time, or worse, something goes wrong. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “Council actively identifies when something needs doing on its roads, and acts as quickly as possible on these things,” an MidCoast Council spokesperson told NOTA. “Road works may often begin when the conditions are deemed suitable, with little or no forewarning,” Council’s Director of Infrastructure and Engineering Services, Robert Scott, confirmed at the recent Community Conversations in Hawks Nest. The maintenance carried out on Thursday, 30 November was general road maintenance, the result of spot-checks by Council staff. The unexpected delays for motorists hopefully also gave pause to consider just how essential the Bridge is to the modern existence of both towns. As the recent Council Wastewater Treatment tour educated many, the Singing Bridge carries potable drinking water from Tea Gardens Aquifer into Hawks Nest, and also carries the raw sewage from all households and businesses over Tea Gardens into the Hawks Nest Wastewater Treatment Plant, not to mention all electricity that Hawks Nest uses. Should the Bridge suffer any kind of calamity, neither side would be able to sustain itself for long, and the community would be reduced to a six-hour wait for a punt-ferry, a fact that can be easily forgotten in the few seconds it takes to cross the Myall River these days. Scheduled road and bridge works can be discovered on the MCC Roads and Bridges website at https://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Services/Roads-and-bridges, including a map of Major Road and Bridge Projects. By Thomas O’KEEFE A glimpse at the critical infrastructure and utilities that run hidden underneath the bridge. Patched up and ready to go safely onto the bridge again.
