Mr McCARTHY - 1998-08-19
The Darwin construction industry is totally reliant on aggregate taken from quarries east of the Adelaide River. I was advised last week that the building industry could be forced to a halt if supplies of aggregate could not be maintained. What measures are being taken to ensure that haulage vehicles can continue to get supplies of aggregate into Darwin past the failed Adelaide River bridge?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I know that the honourable member for Goyder has some problems because this, of course, is right in the heart of his electorate. In fact, we all have problems with it, throughout the Northern Territory.
To aid the transportation of quarry product, the Marrakai track will be closed to all other traffic between 9 pm and 3 am each night to allow for one-way convoys of road train doubles. The first of those convoys will go through tonight. The temporary barge service on the Arnhem Highway route could only cope with single trailers. Operators would have to unhook and hook up again, causing great delays. Signs already urge extreme caution on the Marrakai track. Others are being set up forbidding travel by motorists during the stipulated hours.
My department is still trying to repair the bridge for vehicular traffic within the 2 or 3 weeks that were mentioned earlier. However, I can give members an illustration of the problems that the contractors are facing out there. To obtain the huge amount of water required for compaction of the Marrakai track, a pump was placed in a billabong. The suction hose and connections were bitten off by a crocodile the other night. It was trying to get some sleep, no doubt, and the running of this motor annoyed it. It decided to take action and simply ate the hose leading from the pump up to where the trucks were being filled.
The enormous amount of equipment working on the Marrakai track includes an excavator, 6 scrapers, 8 graders, 6 gravel road trains, 2 bulldozers, 7 water carts and 3 large loaders. At the barge landing, where we are having difficulties because the bank is extremely soft and unstable on the Darwin side, on that side alone there are 2 large excavators, 8 rock and gravel cranes, 1 large bulldozer, 3 graders, 2 loaders, 1 drilling rig and various demountables for the diving team that is carrying out the inspections. The repair bill is estimated at somewhere in the order of $3m now for this failed bridge and the subsequent work that has taken place.
I believe that the idea of having convoys travel over the Marrakai track at night will satisfy the construction industry and I wish them well. Operators will have to take care and, of course, they can only travel in one direction at a time. It would be very exciting indeed to sit in a road train traveling across the newly upgraded track at 1 am.
I assure all members that we are working on the bridge problems. Let us hope that we can keep to the schedule which I have given the House.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I know that the honourable member for Goyder has some problems because this, of course, is right in the heart of his electorate. In fact, we all have problems with it, throughout the Northern Territory.
To aid the transportation of quarry product, the Marrakai track will be closed to all other traffic between 9 pm and 3 am each night to allow for one-way convoys of road train doubles. The first of those convoys will go through tonight. The temporary barge service on the Arnhem Highway route could only cope with single trailers. Operators would have to unhook and hook up again, causing great delays. Signs already urge extreme caution on the Marrakai track. Others are being set up forbidding travel by motorists during the stipulated hours.
My department is still trying to repair the bridge for vehicular traffic within the 2 or 3 weeks that were mentioned earlier. However, I can give members an illustration of the problems that the contractors are facing out there. To obtain the huge amount of water required for compaction of the Marrakai track, a pump was placed in a billabong. The suction hose and connections were bitten off by a crocodile the other night. It was trying to get some sleep, no doubt, and the running of this motor annoyed it. It decided to take action and simply ate the hose leading from the pump up to where the trucks were being filled.
The enormous amount of equipment working on the Marrakai track includes an excavator, 6 scrapers, 8 graders, 6 gravel road trains, 2 bulldozers, 7 water carts and 3 large loaders. At the barge landing, where we are having difficulties because the bank is extremely soft and unstable on the Darwin side, on that side alone there are 2 large excavators, 8 rock and gravel cranes, 1 large bulldozer, 3 graders, 2 loaders, 1 drilling rig and various demountables for the diving team that is carrying out the inspections. The repair bill is estimated at somewhere in the order of $3m now for this failed bridge and the subsequent work that has taken place.
I believe that the idea of having convoys travel over the Marrakai track at night will satisfy the construction industry and I wish them well. Operators will have to take care and, of course, they can only travel in one direction at a time. It would be very exciting indeed to sit in a road train traveling across the newly upgraded track at 1 am.
I assure all members that we are working on the bridge problems. Let us hope that we can keep to the schedule which I have given the House.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016