$1.5m Upgrade for Gilgai

22 July 2019

WHEN the drought breaks, the streets of Gilgai will be ready thanks to the latest in a series of upgrades, which has seen more than $1.5 million invested in drainage improvement to fix long standing issues with localised flooding after heavy rainfall.

Council staff inspected the works this week, which is phase four of the drainage improvement works, with earlier works focusing on Hall Street, Church Street and the southern end of Wood Street.

The latest stage of the works focused on the section of Wood Street between Stannifer Street and Park Street and mayor Paul Harmon is happy to see it nearing completion.

“The project represents a major investment for Council. Historically, Gilgai has experienced drainage issues due to surface run-off and sub-surface water trapped on top of the “billy rock” which underlies most of the village”.

“Works have involved geotechnical assessment, installing underground drainage lines, above ground drainage works and replacing existing road pavement”.

For residents, this means they will have a new 10 metre wide bitumen street and with kerb and guttering, run-off can be diverted away from the roadside and not create headaches from water ponding.

The works along the 220 metre section of Wood Street commenced in late April and have been funded from Council’s Urban Drainage Reconstruction Program.

Cr Harmon says the project is set to reduce ongoing costs for Council as the works will overcome issues caused by overland flow of run off which has resulted in regular maintenance being required. The new road surface is also expected to have a design life of 30 years.

Project manager Tony Hill says the project is tracking to schedule and the final bitumen seal will be laid in early August, weather permitting.

The works cap off a 12 month works schedule for Council, which has also seen the completion of over 67 kilometres of bitumen resurfacing in Inverell Shire, valued in excess of $2 million.

Image: Wood Street in Gilgai receives a $420,000 facelift.

For further information contact:
Fiona Adams | Inverell Shire Council | PO Box 138, Inverell NSW 2360 |02 6728 8288 | Fiona.Adams@inverell.nsw.gov.au