A NEW $1.4 million concrete bridge to be built over the Shoalhaven River near Nerriga will only be a single lane structure and still liable to flooding.
The new bridge will go over the river at Oallen Ford, on the Nowra Goulburn back road, replacing a 40-metre timber structure, which has been subject of a five tonne weight limit after suffering structural damage.
That effectively closed the bridge as a freight corridor to most trucks.
Goulburn Mulwarree Council secured $2.2 million funding over two years from the state government following representations from local Upper House MP Paul Green.
The crossing of the river forms part of a travel and freight route between Nowra and the inland highway corridors of the Hume, Barton and Monaro, continuing the crossing of the Illawarra escarpment by Main Road 92 between Nowra and Nerriga.
In a report to Shoalhaven City Council, engineers said a single lane bridge was a suitable scale of upgrade pending confirmation of the preferred alignment for this road in the future.
Just north of the Shoalhaven River, the last remaining section of unsealed road (2.8km) on the Nowra–Nerriga–Tarago route will be upgraded to accommodate heavy vehicles at an estimated cost of $800,000.