General News
11 July, 2025
Another repair for Gipps Street bridge
YET another substantial hole has opened up on Port Fairy’s Gipps Street Bridge, again highlighting the urgent need for the bridge to be replaced.
In a statement issued earlier this week, Moyne Shire Council said it shared the community’s concerns about the state of the bridge, with this most recent hole highlighting the need for the bridge to be replaced as soon as possible.
Council’s engineers regularly conduct safety assessments of the bridge surface and substructure.
A 20km/h speed limit is in place along with a 15-tonne load limit, to reduce the impact of vehicle traffic.
Moyne Shire mayor Cr Karen Foster said this latest hole, and two other locations on the bridge, were repaired with steel plates last Tuesday, July 8.
“The growing patchwork of plates is a constant reminder to our local community that the bridge is overdue for replacement,” Cr Foster said.
“Council has been advocating for several years for funding to replace the bridge, which is expected to cost over $7 million.
“An application is in place to the federal government’s Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Fund, with the outcome expected to be known shortly.
“Should the application for federal funding not be successful, council has taken steps to access borrowing capacity of up to $10 million to replace the bridge, which was included in our 2025/26 budget.”
However, Cr Foster said that borrowing such a large sum would have an impact on council’s budgets over coming years.
“But this infrastructure work cannot wait,” she said.
“We will continue to keep the community informed about the bridge, and will share updates about timelines for the works when known.”
