A $5 million Brisbane road which was recently upgraded to prevent flooding has been destroyed by the recent heavy rainfall which has flooded waterways, roads and homes.
Residents at Brookfield in the city’s west had warned that the Rafting Ground Road upgrade would not be suitable for the area and say they raised those concerns with Brisbane City Council before it closed the road for eight months for upgrades.
All that work was swept away in the early hours of Monday morning as Brisbane was pounded by record October rains which caused flash flooding across the city’s north and west.
Paul Moon had some of his land resumed for the new road, which he says has now been left in pieces. “There were discussions with council and we had some reservations when we saw how it was happening,” he said. “They wanted to raise the creek crossing that was there, supposedly to make it more of an all-weather crossing.”[But] we’ve had long periods of drought so haven’t had these volumes of water. “Water has now actually flowed onto the side of the road and lifted the bitumen.
It was waving like a ribbon in the water; just floating up and down. “It’s a mess; the bitumen has all been lifted and some of it has physically been lifted up and moved across a metre or so. It’s rippled like waves and some edges are torn off – you wouldn’t want to drive on it. “It’s going to need major repairs because they’re going to have to go back to the foundations to make sure. All that bitumen will have to be ripped up and make sure all the foundations are sound and then it’ll need to be reconstructed again.”
But council says Rafting Ground Road was upgraded to the Q2 flood level – which means a level of flooding which can be expected every two years – and was not meant to prevent the extreme level of flooding which has occurred in the past few days.
Local councillor Margaret de Wit says council will keep local residents informed about repairs and recommends they take alternative routes in the meantime.
“This upgrade was necessary to deal with the smaller floods that were cutting the road off almost every time it rained,” she said.
“However the unfortunate reality is, Brisbane’s built on a flood plain.”And when extreme storms like this one hit we have to accept there may be some flood damage. The important thing is we’re already out there trying to get this road open as quickly as possible.”
A council spokesman says officers are undertaking a full inspection of the road today to determine the full extent of the damage now that conditions are easing.
He says until then it is difficult to determine the exact cause of the damage and how long it will take to fix.
