Severe weather events reconstruction work - 2022

• Project StatusIn progress
• Last reviewed 23 March 2023

The latest

3/3/2023 - The construction program outlining the planned start and finish dates for the 38 Major Landslip repair work has been released.
See Major Landslip Repairs below for more information.

About the project

Information on your local road can be found on Council’s road works page.

The July 2022 east coast low natural disaster event brought with it torrential rain, damaging winds and floods that resulted in widespread landslips, road damage and isolation for some in our community.

The Shoalhaven community showed incredible resilience again following the March 2022 natural disaster event that brought more heavy and sustained rainfall that caused further widespread damage to our public infrastructure and impacted many in our community.

The September 2022 severe weather and floods was also declared natural disaster but mainly caused widespread damage to communities in western NSW. This same weather event also impacted the Shoalhaven LGA although the damage to our infrastructure and the impacts to our community this time was much milder.

On this page

• Major Landslip Repairs
• Completed & Upcoming Road Works
• Current Road Load Limits
• Road Closures - Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP)
• Storm and Flood Customer Care Service

Background

For the months of January to July 2022, rainfall in Barrengarry alone reached a total of 2,059mm (see related documents) compared to an average rainfall for the same period of 854mm and was more than double the rainfall what residents would normally experience. This follows two summers of La Niña weather patterns with a third La Niña expected over the 2022/23 summer expecting to bring more heavy rainfall and flooding. 

During this time 3 severe weather events were declared natural disasters by the NSW Government:

• AGRN1012 – NSW severe weather and flooding from 22 February 2022 onwards
• AGRN1025 – NSW severe weather and flooding from 27 June 2022 onwards

The impacts on public infrastructure were significant, including:

• 1200 records of damage and emergency works across the Shoalhaven
• an estimated $75 million in damaged roads
• an estimated $4 million in damage to flood levees
• 98 landslips (38 classified as major) affecting 23 roads
• 13 sinkholes

The estimated cost to repair the damage is nearly 4 times the value of Council's normal roads and transport annual capital work construction program budget. To respond to this challenge, Council set up a dedicated natural disaster reconstruction team to focus on the repair work.

The above data is as of July 2022. For updated data see Ordinary Council Meeting reports in Related Documents. 

The severe weather and floods in September 2022 were also declared natural disaster.

• AGRN1034 – NSW severe weather and flooding from 14 September 2022 onwards

Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements 

As both severe weather events have been recognised as natural disasters, Council is eligible for federal funding to restore essential infrastructure under strict conditions outlined in

• Commonwealth Disaster Funding Recovery Arrangements 2018 (DRFA)
• NSW Disaster Assistance Arrangements | NSW Government

Under these funding arrangements, Council is seeking funding under Category B measures for ‘restoration of essential public assets’. There are three distinct stages of restoration works: 

Major Landslip Repairs (Stage 3)

3/3/2023 - The latest construction program proposed by the contractor Symal for the 38 the Major Landslip repair work has been released and is available in the related documents on this page.  See "Major Landslip Package Program March 2023".

A summary of this construction program is also shown below by clicking on the heading "Major Landslip Package Planned Program of Work”

21/2/2023 - As previously reported, Council resolved on the 15^th February 2023 to proceed with the appointment of infrastructure and construction group Symal to repair the 38 major landslips affecting 15 of Shoalhaven Council’s roads. Council has provided Symal a schedule of works which prioritises the most urgent landslips with the first round of works expected to begin in late March 2023.

This week Council project management team will be meeting with the contractor to confirm planned dates when individual landslip repairs will commence. This project master page and the 15 individual roadworks pages will be updated to provide the planned commencement dates for the 38 landslip repairs as soon as these dates are confirmed. You can view the list of major landslips and the assigned construction priorities by clicking on the heading “Major landslip package priorities” below. 

14/02/2023 - Contract awarded - Council has resolved to proceed with the appointment of infrastructure and construction group Symal to repair the 38 major landslips. Council has provided Symal a schedule of works which prioritises the most urgent landslips with the first round of works to begin in late March 2023. To view the list of major landslips and the assigned construction priorities, refer to the Major landslip package priorities below. 

22/12/2022 - Four tenders for the repair of 38 landslips were received. A comprehensive evaluation process has been completed and a recommendation has been forwarded to Public Work Advisory (PWA) for endorsement. It is anticipated that PWA will evaluate the tender acceptance report and respond to Council mid-January.

Completed & Upcoming Road Works (Stage 3)

The information below provides an overview of the roads impacted by the natural disasters and tender information for each district. 

Request for Tender timelines are unfortunately delayed. Council is awaiting approval from TfNSW and NSW Reconstruction. Individual project pages will be updated as soon as confirmation is received. 

To see more detailed information regarding the individual road works, use the links in All Works and subscribe to remain updated. 

Interim Slip Repairs – Completed (Stage 2 )

The following land slip, interim works have completed under Stage 2 (immediate reconstruction works), to allow restricted traffic access under strict load limits:

• Wattamolla Rd – two locations
• Upper Kangaroo River Rd – two locations
• Foremans Rd
• Woodhill Mountain Rd
• Suffolk Rd 

Current Road Load Limits

The following roads have strict load limits imposed for public safety:

The imposed road load limits at various slip sites have been confirmed by Council’s geotechnical consultants by applying slope stability analysis. This considers vehicle loads, geology, soil conditions and road embankment slopes to derive a factor of safety against further embankment collapse.

Refer related documents for more information.

Vehicle Weight Limit Exemption Application

Council road management staff will consider requests for an exemption to a load limit at a landslip site, and this can be done by downloading and completing the SCC Application Form – Load Limit Exemption.

Any consideration of a temporary load limit exemption would be on a risk assessment of slope stability undertaken by Council’s geotechnical consultant.

Allow at least 10 business days to have this application considered.

Road Closures - Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP)

This TARP assists us to manage existing and historical land slip sites based on predicted rainfall events. 

Roads currently affected with load limits imposed due to landslips can deteriorate and slip further due to further heavy rainfall. Council has trigger points when deciding to close a road to all traffic for safety reasons:

The nature of the landslip hazard is such that in most cases it is not possible to give notice of a road closure before a road closure is implemented. Council understands the impact that a road closure can have on residents and the Community and only implement such measures in the face of imminent hazardous conditions.

Storm and Flood Customer Care Service

If you have been affected by the March or July 2022 severe storms and floods, there are a range of assistance measures that may be available to support you.