New bridge at Melville

The new bridge was only partially constructed and not yet anchored to abutments on either side of the river when both flood events occurred. This caused damage to the bridge foundations which was unavoidable due to the timing of the floods and where our contractors were up to in the construction process.

A revised timeline of works will need to be confirmed at a later date, once the full extent of damage is known and a repair plan has been finalised with our contractor, Saunders Civilbuild.

This is a complex project, and the requirements to repair the damage won’t be clear until the deck is removed in October 2025 for a detailed assessment. If minimal repair work is required then an 8 month delay would be realistic, however if major damage is uncovered early 2027 is more realistic.

The community will be updated once there is a repair plan.

Following two flood events in May and August, crews needed to wait until river levels had receded before they could safely re-enter the site and begin damage assessments. Due to the nature of flooding events there has been erosion of soil and sediment from around the base of the piers, so while the water had well and truly receded from the main structure, the water needed to recede to a normal river level so that all elements could be inspected.

Once the flood water had receded to a point where inspections of the bridge structure could take place, it became clear the bridge decking would need to be removed for final detailed inspection and repair. Final steps in the damage assessment process are now underway with a 750-tonne crane set to be on site from Monday 13 October to complete this work. Once complete, Saunders Civilbuild can finalise a repair plan.

We understand these extended delays have a significant impact on residents and our wider community, and we remain committed to working with Saunders Civilbuild to complete the bridge in a timely manner.

Following successive flood events in May and August, the old bridge has been inaccessible for several months due to damage to the abutments and access roads.  It is not safe or appropriate for public access. We are continuing to focus our efforts on repairing the new bridge and will inform the community once a repair plan is in place.

The new bridge structure spans 102m in four spans, ranging between 24m and 30m. This is a significant improvement compared to the old bridge structure which had an average width span of 11m. Once the new bridge structure is completed and the old bridge is removed, there will only be three piers within the river channel.

Once complete, the new bridge will be higher than what is currently visible on site as a new deck is yet to be added on top of the foundations. The new bridge will be over six metres taller than the original. From an engineering perspective, making the bridge any higher would incur significantly more costs and wouldn’t prevent any more flood-related closures as the surrounding roads would flood well before the bridge, which means the bridge would be cut off anyway.

The new bridge is being built to improve flood access and has in no way been designed to a height that offers one in 100-year flood-free access. To achieve such a height would require an extra 8.5 metre increase on the height of the new bridge (already 6.5m higher than the existing bridge) and an increase in the bridge length from 102m to approximately 1.3km.

We have received $6 million in state government funding to rebuild sections of Maitland Vale Road and Melville Ford Road to improve flood resilience in the area. These upgrades will ensure residents are cut off less frequently and for less time during floods. However, significant flooding events may still lead to road closures and the closure of the bridge.

During the recent events in May and August the river heights inundated the new bridge deck. This was expected as the new bridge is built to improve flood access at this location and is not designed to a height that offers 1 in 100-year flood free access. To achieve such a height would require an additional 8.5 metre increase on the height of the new bridge (which already is 6.5 meters higher than the existing bridge), meaning the new bridge would need to be 14 meters higher than the existing bridge. By increasing the height, this would also increase the new bridge’s length from the current length of 102 meters to approximately 1.3km to achieve a 1 in 100-year flood free outcome. This would increase the cost of the bridge from $8.2 million (current cost) to levels way beyond current financial capacity.

Until the full extent of damage is known, it is unclear what the financial impacts of these two flood events will be on the project. We will continue to work with Saunders Civilbuild, who are contractually responsible for the project, and funding bodies to ensure we deliver the best result for our community. The contractor has committed to assess the damage and work with Council to plan and deliver the next phase of the project.

At the Council meeting on 17 June 2025, Councillors considered community feedback on the proposal to rename the bridge. Councillors voted to rename the site the ‘Milton Morris Bridge’ after former Maitland MP, Milton Morris AO. Council has consulted with the Geographical Names Board and approval has been granted to name the new bridge Milton Morris Bridge. Appropriate signage and an official opening will take place on completion of the new bridge.