The new crossing of the Clarence River pushes ahead.

 

Viewed from the southern riverbank, with the original bridge at left.

Although the construction site is about 9 kms (as the crow flies) up-river from our home, for the past several weeks we have been hearing muted "thuds" and feeling faint vibrations through the ground as enormous steel tubes are pounded through a thousand years of river silt and down to bedrock, some 50 to 70 metres below the surface of the water.

The site to which I refer is that for the new bridge which will carry the dual-carriageway Pacific Highway upgrade over the Clarence (which is approximately 620 metres wide at this location); add the approaches and the structure will be over 1500 metres in length.

Work is now well underway and yesterday I visited the site, parked my car on the southern (Yamba) side of the river and walked along the footpath on the existing bridge to the northern side, where the pilings for the northern approach are underway.

Looking south towards the Yamba/Maclean interchange.

At the southern end, work currently in progress centres on what will be the interchange, on-ramps & off-ramps, for traffic to and from Yamba and Maclean. Pile-driving at this end has not commenced.

Looking north and the piling work for the approach.

Whilst talking with two members of the construction team I was amazed to learn that these steel tubes have to be driven through such a deep layer of river silt before reaching bedrock but, as one of the gentlemen said, the location (seen above) was actually the bed of the river itself some thousands of years ago.

That red device with the tube projecting from it is the pile-driver.

As the tubes get driven into the ground, sections are added by welding them to the top until finally the tubes are of the correct length to just leave a small portion projecting, as in the photo below, which shows the first set of steel tubes - just off the north riverbank - completed and ready for the next stage in the construction of a pylon.

Tubes ready to become the base for one pylon.

The road-level on the new bridge will be about as high as those concrete blocks in the towers.

The original bridge (seen above and opened in 1966) will continue to be maintained by the State government (RMS) even though it will, in reality, become part of the local road system rather than part of the Pacific Highway once the new bridge is completed.
Northbound local traffic - i.e., that coming from Yamba & Maclean - will use this bridge and the original highway until joining the new carriageway near the Iluka turnoff, some 9 kms north of Harwood.

I met and chatted with a couple of the workmen who are removing rust, repainting and generally sprucing up the old girl.

No doubt it will be standing for another 50 years.