Betterment works deliver fab culvert for Isis Highway
June 1964. While The Beatles embarked on what would be their only tour of Australia, a brand new steel culvert was being installed on south-east Queensland’s Isis Highway.
Though at a relatively short 137 kilometres, the highway hardly rates as a long and winding road.
But it's a vital part of the Wide Bay road network, linking the sugar producing Bundaberg and Fraser Coast regions with the cattle farming districts of the North Burnett, and for day trippers supporting local tourism.
Named after the river that flows between Childers and Burrum Heads, Isis Highway connects Bundaberg with Ban Ban Springs, passing through the towns of Childers and Biggenden along the way.
South-east Queensland’s early 2022 drenching took a heavy toll on the Bundaberg region’s infrastructure, including the Isis Highway.
Almost 600mm of rain was recorded at the nearby Bingera Mill over three separate major weather events bookended by ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth in January and the South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding event of March.
Raging floodwaters damaged the highway in several places including Rowlands Creek, where the almost 58-year-old steel culvert was damaged beyond repair.
Help came from Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) crews who stepped up to complete emergency works to reopen the road while long-term repairs were organised.
Following detailed design and procurement processes, reconstruction works commenced in August 2023 to replace the old steel culvert with a larger, stronger and more flood-resilient concrete culvert.
The new three-cell, 2.7-metre diameter reinforced concrete pipes improve capacity, efficiency and resilience compared to the original single-cell, 3.6-metre steel pipe.
More water can now flow through the culvert during heavy rainfall events, reducing the risk of floodwaters forcing closing of the road.
Construction of the culvert was completed in March 2024, funded under the 2021-22 Betterment Program.
An initiative supported by joint Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), Betterment is part of the exceptional circumstances package developed in the wake of 2022 floods.
Delivered by federal, state and local government agencies, Betterment increases the resilience of essential public infrastructure to ensure it can better withstand future disaster events.
