Rain washes out road, rail infrastructure in Queensland

Damage to road and rail infrastructure is the continued focus of Queensland regulatory interests after another night of heavy rain. Queensland Rail was in the process of clearing and repairing damaged track today (Thursday, February 14) and Queensland Transport has developed a new website to advise transport operators and travellers of road conditions in central and northern reaches of the state. There has been major damage to the rail track in both the Newlands and Goonyella coal systems. Repair crews were onsite in the Newlands system yesterday building a road to safely access the site of a 12-wagon derailment on the Briaba to Binbee section. Some wagons fell into the creek bed and would need to be craned from the area, QR said. &#8220It’s hoped the area will be fully cleared by midday [today&#93, so that a track repair team can begin the work of rebuilding more than 200-metres of damaged line and other infrastructure,&#8221 a spokeswoman said. &#8220It is expected that full repairs will be completed by Saturday and the line reopened.&#8221 The north coast line remains cut between Mackay and Townsville, with major track damage and culverts washed out between Ayr and Townsville, particularly in the Pioneer to Barratta area. &#8220This is preventing both passenger and freight trains passing and recovery crews say it may be early next week before the line reopens,&#8221 the spokeswoman said. Load restrictions remain in place on key state-controlled roads in the Emerald District following significant and widespread flooding. The links affected include the Capricorn Highway, west of Emerald to Alpha, and the Gregory Highway from Emerald to Capella, with 80% load restrictions applying to the links for all &#8220as of right&#8221 vehicles. Any truck normally allowed access can use the road, but only at 80% of its axle loads &#8211 except steer axles which run be at regulation mass &#8211 Queensland Transport said. A temporary restriction has been placed on all excess mass and dimension movements on all roads within the Central Highlands District until Monday, February 18. The restrictions will be reviewed tomorrow at 4 pm. Main roads minister Warren Pitt has released a new online map showing Queensland’s flood-affected, state-controlled roads. The map gives up-to-date information on which roads were closed due to flooding and those that were subject to load restrictions, Mr Pitt said. "An accompanying table also shows the specific load restrictions for various roads and users can zoom in on sections of the map for closer detail." The map can be found at http:&#47&#47www.mainroads.qld.gov.au in the "Queensland floods 2008" section under "Helpful information". To see map <a href="https://www.railexpress.com.au/content/LLDCN/pdf/FloodMapping.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a> To view this sample, you will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have a copy you can download it from <a href="http://www.adobe.com" target="’blank’">www.adobe.com</a>

No Results