Independent inspection confirms Captain Cook Bridge safe

A preliminary independent inspection of the Captain Cook Bridge has confirmed Main Roads’ finding that it is structurally safe, Minister for Transport and Main Roads Paul Lucas said today.

Mr Lucas said the inspection, carried out by University of Queensland’s Professor Peter Dux yesterday, found fine cracks inside of the bridge that were normal and not structurally significant.

“Professor Dux advised Main Roads today that he had inspected two sides of the southbound section of the bridge: the length where an Energex gantry was recently installed under the bridge, and the corresponding face on the other side of the southbound section,” Mr Lucas said.

“In his report, Professor Dux said he had noted numerous cracks that: ‘are old, fine and are of no structural significance, except to indicate that the structure is behaving as designed’.”

Professor Dux further found that the cracking had nothing to do with the construction of the Energex gantry. In his report, he states: ‘the web to which the gantry is bolted and the corresponding web on the other side of the structure, which is free of boltholes, exhibit very similar cracking.’

The report further found that: ‘typically, in the web supporting the gantry, the cracks do not pass through boltholes’.

Mr Lucas said Professor Dux had also found evidence that this fine cracking had been present before the coring of the boltholes.

Professor Dux reported that: ‘many of the cracks have been marked up during previous Main Roads inspections. For example, markings in both cells indicate that cracks were detected in September, 1984 and were of similar width and distribution to what they are today'.

"Professor Dux's inspection confirms Main Roads' findings last Friday that the bridge is structurally sound, and that motorists should have no concerns about using the structure,” Mr Lucas said.

Main Roads Director-General Alan Tesch said Professor Dux advised today he would now start work on the second part of his agreed terms of reference from Main Roads.

"The first part of Professor Dux's brief was to perform an initial inspection and assessment of the overall safety and structural integrity of the downstream span of the bridge supporting the gantry," Mr Tesch said. "That is now complete with the delivery of his report today."

"The next part of Professor Dux's brief is to advise and assist in developing a process and methodology for determining the number of reinforcing bars that may have been cut during installation of the Energex gantry.

"That work is already underway, and is expected to take several weeks. When Professor Dux has established a timeframe we will make this public. Professor Dux's final report will also be made public.

"The terms of reference for Professor Dux's investigation, together with a copy of today's initial report, will be available on the Main Roads website," Mr Tesch said.

Mr Lucas said the prompt release of the report showed Main Roads took road and bridge safety seriously.

“Not only does Main Roads advise they had an inspector on site during the work and that a final inspection was done when it was complete, we now have expert reports from the department and Professor Dux, confirming the bridge is structurally safe.

“The Courier-Mail today appeared to claim the independent report was too quick to provide verification of last week’s initial inspection by Main Roads. I’ve always made it clear, and indeed The Courier-Mail itself has reported this earlier in the week, that Professor Dux’s inspection was a two stage process.

“The first stage, now complete, was to verify immediately that there were no safety issues. The second stage, as we’ve indicated all along, will take at least several weeks.

“I also asked Main Roads to write to the CMC over claims made about the department's pre-qualification processes. If the CMC determines it cannot investigate these claims, I've asked Main Roads to have them independently investigated.

“We will take the strongest possible action against anyone if it is shown they have done the wrong thing.

“But these allegations, while made anonymously, are serious which is why we are doing such a thorough job. Make no mistake, this will be an expensive exercise, but allegations having been made, must be dealt with."

Media inquiries
Minister Lucas’ office: Robert Hoge 0419 757 868
Main Roads: Mark Strong 0417 767 436