River Murray flood update: Planning to re-opening roads and ferries safely

Tuesday, 24 January 2023

With River Murray flood waters to continue to recede in the coming weeks, the Department, together with its contractors, has been working hard to plan the re-opening of all closed roads and ferries as soon as it is safe to do so.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 25 January), Kingston Road at Moorook will re-open to light vehicles by 8am, while Lyrup Ferry will resume operations from midday.

Process to re-open roads

With the peak having now passed at each part of the river, maintenance teams are currently working to perform crucial assessments on each of the remaining closed roads to determine the extent of damage and the repairs required before the road can be safely re-opened.

These assessments can only be completed once the water has sufficiently receded and is no longer over the road, enabling any debris and mud to be cleaned off the road – with teams working carefully to not further damage the road surface.

Cleaning of mud and debris may take up to two weeks depending on the extent of inundation and the length of road.

Once the road is clear, maintenance teams will inspect the road for visible signs of damage.

If there is no visible damage to the road, the strength of the road surface will be tested to determine the volume and type of traffic that can safely use the road. This may mean that a road is opened in stages - possibly only to local residents and emergency vehicles initially, before being opened to all light vehicles and later to heavy vehicles if the surface remains stable and safe after being driven on.

With some roads having been inundated since early December 2022, the Department is anticipating that significant repairs will be necessary, ranging from minor defects such as small potholes and cracks in the road surface, to major failures and the complete wash out of road sections.

Minor repairs may take approximately two weeks to be completed, while major repairs may involve many months of work before the road is safe to re-open due to the damage caused by this significant natural disaster.

While repairs will be prioritised on key roads that support the transport of essential supplies and services to the community, including roads leading to ferry crossings, the Department will ensure sufficient resources and teams will be available to conduct repairs at multiple locations at the same time.

The Department continues to work closely with local councils and emergency services to ensure a coordinated approach to repair and reconstruction activities.

The Department thanks all road users for their patience and understanding while these important works are undertaken.

Road users are reminder to take extra care around road workers and other motorists, with traffic management staff and SA Police continuing to monitor restrictions and closures.

Roads that have been re-opened may still be drying out and have soft or slippery areas.

Please always drive to the conditions, plan your journey before travelling and obey all speed restrictions and signage.

While the Department understands that current road closures and detours across the region are inconvenient, these are required for the safety of the community and will only be in place as long as necessary.

For the latest traffic information, including road closures and detour information, visit traffic.sa.gov.au.

Key roads

Kingston Road, Moorook

Kingston Road will re-open to light vehicles tomorrow morning by 8am (Wednesday 25 January).

Strength testing has confirmed that the road is safe to be opened to all light vehicles (less than 4.5 tonnes) under controlled conditions.

Road users are warned that the road shoulder is soft in some sections and to take extra care when travelling. Traffic cones and speed restrictions will be in place to keep vehicles off the shoulder in areas of greatest concern.

Bookpurnong Road, Loxton/Berri

The latest inspection of Bookpurnong Road showed that most of the road surface is now no longer inundated but is significantly damaged. Cleaning works will commence shortly to enable a more detailed inspection, strength testing and further planning for remediation works.

The re-opening of Bookpurnong road remains a high priority, however given the duration of inundation the road pavement can be expected to be saturated and may require extensive repairs.

Goyder Highway

Works have commenced to remove the levee located on the on the Goyder Highway north of Morgan and are expected to be complete on by Monday 30 January. Once the levee is removed, a further assessment of the road will be undertaken, however some soft spots have already been identified. It is anticipated that the current detour for traffic travelling east will need to remain in place until all necessary repairs to the road can be completed.

Hunter Road, Mannum and Angus Valley Road, Walker Flat

Both Hunter Road and Angus Valley Road have sustained significant damage with multiple sections washed away to considerable depth on each road. Once the water has receded, assessments will be made to determine the best strategy for remediation.

This may include undertaking temporary repairs as soon as possible to allow the roads to re-open to traffic, before conducting longer term repairs later in the year.

Ferries

Eight of the Department’s 12 ferries on the River Murray remain closed. The Department is closely monitoring water levels at each ferry location and is endeavouring to re-open ferry services as it becomes safe to do so.

Marine Services are conducting daily inspections and performing thorough inspections of equipment (such as cables, anchor points and infrastructure), to ensure they are fit for purpose and can be activated as soon as water levels drop to operable levels.

Major repairs to ferry infrastructure affected by high flows and flooding are not expected, however any necessary repairs and adjustments will be made before recommencing services.

Ferry landings and infrastructure will also be cleaned prior to re-starting.

While ferry operators and maintenance staff are doing everything possible to prepare ferries to safely re-open, road access to ferries remains an ongoing barrier in some locations to the resumption of services.

Services will not be able to resume if the ferry access road remains closed and there is no safe alternative detour route for vehicles to reach the ferry.

The Department will be prioritising necessary repairs to State Government managed access roads as the water further recedes and is working closely with local councils to ensure locally managed ferry roads can be re-opened as soon as possible.

As water levels fall along the river, previously closed ferry services are expected to progressively resume as soon as it is safe to do so.

Waikerie Ferry services recommenced at the higher landing on 9 January 2023.

The Lyrup Ferry will re-open tomorrow at 12pm (Wednesday 25 January). The ferry will be initially only open to light vehicles less than four tonnes due to Council weight requirements on the connecting roads.

The Department has been advised by Council that it will continue to monitor the roads, and their condition, and will raise this weight limit in a staged manner as soon as it is safe to do so.

Based on current predictions, Morgan, Swan Reach, Walker Flat, Purnong and Mannum (downstream) ferries are all anticipated to recommence services by mid-February.

To check the current status of all River Murray ferries, as well as latest information and advice during River Murray floods, visit www.sa.gov.au/floods.

The Department will continue to provide regular updates on its Facebook and Twitter pages during the flood recovery - including details of any road and ferry re-openings, detours and safety advice.