WHO doesn’t love the timber walkway along Lighthouse Road at Byron Bay?
Completed in late 2003, the walkway offers world-class views of Main Beach, Clarks Beach, The Pass and the distant mountain ranges and is a major visitor attraction.
I love it and still get gobsmacked by the view every time I walk it.
But in late June, 2005, disaster struck when a section of the walkway collapsed after rain run-off from a massive storm led to a section of the adjacent roadway being washed away.
The damage was significant and I don’t think anyone was under any illusion that there would be a quick fix.
But nobody would have expected the job would have taken six years to complete – but that’s what happened.
For all that time, Lighthouse Road was reduced to one-way traffic with lights controlling the flow of vehicles.
Two years after the collapse (2007) I wrote a story for the Byron News responding to questions from locals about why it was taking so long.
Vocal critics pointed out that a major freeway, with all its engineering problems, was built in the north of the shire basically in the same period.
Byron Council copped flak from residents and visitors alike about the apparent lack of activity in getting the job done – or even started.
But the officer dealing with it at the time, Brett Lee, the council’s director of asset management services, said that given the complexities involved, most of the criticism had been unfair.
Mr Lee gave the Byron News a summary of why it took so long for the planning, investigation, design and construction to happen.
Heading the list were the geographical constraints, the main one being no alternative route to Cape Byron, The Pass or Wategos and as such said Mr Lee, closing Lighthouse Road to complete the works was not an option.
Because of this, it had required specialised design and construction techniques to resolve the geotechnical problems to restore the road.
An alternative method would have been simpler and readily completed if closing the road had been an option, he said.
According to Mr Lee, other circumstances causing delays included:
. Some of the work to be done was in Cape Byron State Conservation Area which require approval from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
. The design of the work and provision of funding had to be in accordance with the Roads and Traffic Authority’s (RTA) natural disaster guidelines. The RTA was funding the project.
. Specialist contractors were required as the work was outside the normal scope of council activities.
. Ongoing consultation and approvals were required from the Cape Byron Headland Reserve manager and the RTA.
. Time was required for the tender process to be completed.
Mr Lee said there were four major components of the restoration job – investigation, design and temporary works; construction of a special rock wall behind the Clarks Beach Cottage below the collapsed road, seen as the “platform” for the work above; construction of a new Lighthouse Road stormwater outlet; and finally construction of a piled wall, boardwalk and roadway.
He said extensive geotechnical investigation and detailed design had been needed.
The piled wall was the only option investigated which could be built with the road remaining open to traffic.
The special rock wall behind the cottage had been completed, with the new stormwater outlet due to be completed by the end of July. (2007)
Mr Lee said the design for the piled wall and boardwalk had been completed and the council was waiting for the go-ahead from the Cape Byron Trust and the RTA.
Once the work was approved, the job, estimated to take 26 weeks, would be put out to tender. When the boardwalk was completed, the council would reconstruct the collapsed section of Lighthouse Road.
Again – the big question was, when would it all be finished? Given the timeframe for the boardwalk reconstruction alone, it seemed the whole job won’t be completed until well into 2008.
Brett Lee is unable to give a completion date and he warned that given the complexities of the project, even further delays were possible.
And he was spot-on.
Among other issues, there were problems with the relocation of services such as water, sewer, phone cables and power which had proved more difficult than originally thought.
And of course, major works had to be done in a way that allowed Lighthouse Road to remain open to traffic.
After a couple of years, most of us became used to the traffic lights, but everyone was glad to see them go when the job was completed in late 2011 at a cost of around $3 million.
The integrity of the works has been tested over the years, including huge rainfalls in recent weeks, and so far they have passed the test.
TOP PHOTOS: The collapsed walkway from both ends.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Local residents mark the fifth anniversary of the collapse. They had to wait more than a year from then to celebrate its reopening.