MICKEL TAKES ACTION ON BOARDWALK

The State Government will pay to rebuild a section of boardwalk on the Brisbane River following a new engineering report which recommends rebuilding the popular pathway instead of repairing it.

Transport Minister John Mickel requested further analysis following the closure of the boardwalk from Boundary Street to Macrossan Street – between the Story Bridge and the Customs House – at the end of August.

Mr Mickel said the latest report confirmed the earlier advice that the boardwalk was in poor condition and that rebuilding the structure entirely would deliver a safer and better facility for the thousands of walkers, joggers and cyclists who enjoy using it each day.

“As soon as I was told there may be a safety issue with the boardwalk in August I acted by ordering an immediate closure of the section affected,” Mr Mickel said.

“Queensland Transport received the new report on Wednesday night and has spent two days analyzing it.

“And today we have decided that although this is not a State Government structure we believe the smartest decision is to rebuild it.”

The report showed:

·The general condition of the Admiralty Quays Boardwalk is extremely poor for a structure of less than 12 years, with significant durability concerns existing for all structural elements of the boardwalk.

·On the basis of the results of this investigation into the structural capacity of the Admiralty Quays section of the Boardwalk, it is considered that there are significant doubts as to whether the deck is structurally adequate to support loads associated with its use as a boardwalk.

·It is recommended that the recent closure of the section of boardwalk in front of Admiralty Quays to prevent loading being applied to the deck remains in place until an appropriate plan can be formulated to address these issues.

The report also showed the deck unit may not have been constructed in accordance with the design intent and has been inadequately designed to limit cracking.

Mr Mickel said the boardwalk was too important to leave in limbo.

“This is the right thing to do for this iconic structure - for the current users and for future generations to continue using the boardwalk as part of an active and healthy lifestyle,” Mr Mickel said.

The next step will be to plan and design the new boardwalk and begin construction. Preliminary cost estimates put the fix for the section at around $10 million with construction possibly taking 18-24 months.

“During construction the boardwalk will be closed and there will be detours - we apologise for this inconvenience but I'd ask the community to keep in mind a better boardwalk is on the way.”

Saturday 20 September 2008

Media contact – John Smith 0409 305 669