Investment is needed to repair Queensland’s weather damaged roads

Heavy investment is needed in Queensland, Australia to repair damage to roads caused by flooding as well as cyclone Oswald. Queensland’s Transport Ministry estimates that the combination of floods and ex-tropical cyclone Oswald has damaged 4,000-5,000km of roads and will cost billions of dollars to repair. A number of major road sections have been damaged and these include Bruce highway at Yeppen, the Neerkol Creek Bridge on the Capricorn Highway and Burnett Highway at Mount Morgan. In addition, the Don Tallon Bridge in Bundaberg was badly damaged by flooding. The Australian Army is building a temporary bridge over the Burnett River at present. The roads will have to be repaired quickly otherwise this will have a detrimental effect on the economy. Queensland’s mining industry is a major provider of work and economic growth and most of the operations are some way from the towns and cities. Ensuring that road links to these mines are in good condition is of prime concern.