Flooding Affects 60 Per Cent Of South West Road Network

More than 1,000 kilometres of road network were reinstated following significant floods affecting 88 Local Government Areas across the south of the state in January and February.

In late January and early February two weather events resulted in most of the state, covering an area the size of Western Europe, being declared a natural disaster area. The flooding was possibly the worst in 30 years with areas affected including the Kimberley, the Pilbara particularly Karratha, the Wheatbelt, Swan Valley and the far south coast in the Great Southern Region which experienced the most severe damage.

Great Southern Region

In the Great Southern Region more than 60 per cent of the road network sustained damage across areas including Jerramungup and Ravensthorpe. In addition, the Phillips River Bridge on South Coast Highway was washed away resulting in an 80 kilometre detour being established around the site while a sidetrack was constructed to minimise delays for road users. The newly sealed sidetrack at Phillips River was opened to traffic in late March 2017. Currently operating under speed restrictions, this arrangement will stay in place until construction of the new Phillips River Bridge is completed later this year.

South Coast Highway near Bedford Harbour Road was closed to all traffic when floodwaters up to 800 millimetres ponded over the highway at many locations. The ponding occurred because of the low topography of the site. To enable the highway to be reopened, work crews constructed causeways to build the level of the highway up above floodwater level. As well as enabling South Coast Highway to be reopened following the flood event, these works will minimise road closures if floods occur again.

Wheatbelt Region

In the Wheatbelt Region, major roads were affected by floodwaters and rolling road closures were in place over a two-week period. During the floods, the structural supports on the Williams River Bridge along Albany Highway became loose and as a result, over mass loads were temporarily diverted until strengthening works were carried out.

Our regions worked hard to make the network safe and to reopen routes to traffic as soon as possible. Where necessary, detours were established and emergency repairs began immediately. Significant temporary repairs were necessary at the most affected areas to make them safe for traffic.

Keeping the travelling public informed was a key objective during this period. The Travel Map on our website was continually updated and provided a good source of information for travellers and affected residents. We provided more than 400 tweets, and reached in excess of 132,000 people through our Facebook posts and Customer Information Centre, in addition to continually providing all media outlets with current information.

Works are ongoing across the state with recovery from this significant event continuing into the next financial year. The cost of the clean-up for the Great Southern and Wheatbelt regions is more than $100 million, with State Roads in the Great Southern bearing more than $20 million of these costs and $5 million associated with State Roads in the Wheatbelt Region. Remaining costs have been borne by local governments across both regions.