In November 2020 King & Campbell were engaged by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to undertake all works associated with the design and environmental approvals for the replacement of Pappinbarra Bridge. This included the preparation of detailed engineering plans, completion of a Review of Environmental Factors (REF), obtaining a permit from the Department of Primary Industries, and detailed survey of the site and surrounding river.

The original timber bridge was destroyed by bush fire in November 2019, with only a temporary low-level culvert crossing available to the local residents. During the design process, the temporary side-track constructed by Council was damaged by the major flooding event in March 2021, including significant scouring of the embankments. The replacement bridge has been designed to provide improved scour protection and flood immunity up to 1 in 20 ARI event (5% AEP). It will be a concrete construction to improve durability and reduce Council’s long-term maintenance. Council were successful in obtaining disaster grant funding for the works through Transport for NSW. The Pappinbarra replacement bridge is expected to commence construction in early 2022.

King & Campbell were assisted by Consultants: Northrop Consulting Engineers (structural engineering), Biodiversity Australia (ecology), Heritage Now (Aboriginal Heritage and archaeology) and Regional Geotechnical Solutions (geotechnical).