Byron Shire Council has won the Sustainable Procurement Award at the 2019 Local Government Procurement Awards for its Bangalow Bridges Renewal project.
The awards recognise excellence and best practice in the field of procurement in the Local Government sector.
The Bangalow Bridges Renewal project was one of the most challenging projects undertaken by Council involving the replacement of five old timber bridges in the Bangalow area with repurposed steel bridges from the Australia Defence Force (ADF).
Byron Shire Mayor, Simon Richardson, said the project was a winner and the ultimate in recycling.
"So many staff had a hand in winning this award – from the idea of using surplus ADF bridges, to our Grant writer who secured $5.2 million in funding from the State and Federal Governments, to the engineers who managed the project and worked with the contractors managing community expectations and concerns, to our Procurement Officer who wrote the award application," Mayor Richardson said.
"We installed five new bridges over seven months in 2018, in sometimes difficult terrain and conditions and it was a sensational team effort.
"Thanks need to also go to the community, who were patient and understanding when they were forced to use detours for months at a time when their local bridge was closed.
"The end result was five new bridges that were safe, secure and had increased load limits meaning better access for residents, businesses and emergency services.
"Because the original bridges were so old they had very restricted load limits meaning some residents couldn't even get large loads of water delivered so the new bridges were very welcome," Mayor Richardson said.
"It's actually a recycling story that keeps going because we then saved the timber from the old bridges and it has and is continuing to be used by Council in projects around the shire," he said.
The recycled timber can be seen in Council's refurbished parks (Gaggin Park, Waterlily Park, Bangalow Parklands, Railway Park).
The soon-to-be refurbished South Arm Bridge at Brunswick Heads will also feature timber from the old bridges.
