By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council will enter into a contract with Lohman Contracting to replace culverts at Connolly Dam, as approved at the Ordinary Council Meeting on 10 August.
The motion stated that Council would enter into a contract with Lohman Contracting for the sum of $451,036.96, excluding GST, for the Connolly Dam Road Culvert Replacement project, and that additional funding will be identified from the Works Budget Portfolio through the quarterly budget review processes to overcome the estimated shortfall.
It was recommended by staff that Council enter into a contract with McMahon Services Australia Pty Ltd., but the group withdrew their tender prior to the meeting.
Staff recommended in the meeting that Council enter into a contract with the next highest-ranked tenderer, Lohmann Contracting.
Connolly Dam Road provides access to Connolly Dam and neighbouring rural properties. The existing crossing of a tributary to Rosenthal Creek consists of two 2590 x 1660 Reinforced Concrete Culverts located approximately 6km from the intersection with Rosenthal Road.
Staff stated in the report that “overall, the structure is in very poor condition, with severe defects evident that reduce the capacity and service life of the culvert”.
The full project scope is to replace the existing culvert over the ‘amber’ classified waterway in accordance with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Accepted Development Requirements, reconstruct existing structural layers of the road and widen the road running surface to provide two traffic lanes to both approaches. Full construction drawings and design documentation has been prepared by an engineering consultant working on behalf of the Council which has allowed tenderers to prepare a detailed price for construction.
Council was successful in securing 50 per cent funding through the Australian Government’s Bridge Renewal Program to improve road-user safety, increase farm machinery and farm produce/freight efficiency, and create environmental improvements by creek flow with minimum disturbance to the banks.
In September 2021, Council went out to the market to source a contractor to install the culverts and construct the bridge approaches but the project did not proceed at that time. The installation of the replacement culverts was postponed in November 2021 due to wet weather and an inability to access the site. It was anticipated that construction would be more likely to proceed in winter 2022 during the usually dry season.
The Bridge Renewal Program requires that the project be completed by 31 December 2022.
Seven offers were received for the Connolly Dam Road Culvert Replacement project.
Lohman Contracting was the cheapest option at $451,036.96.
McMahon Services Australia Pty Ltd’s withdrawn tender was $3722.84 more expensive at $454,759.80.
The motion was moved by Cr Stephen Tancred and seconded by Cr Ross Bartley.
