$1.4M to restore Kernot Krowera Road

COUNCILLORS showed no hesitation in adopting a recommendation to approve up to $1.4M to repair 250 Kernot Krowera Road, Kernot following a landslide last year.

The recommendation also proposed giving the shire’s CEO authority to award the contract for design and construction, and allow officers to continue progressing the Emergency Recovery funding application with the Victorian Disaster Recovery Funding Agency.

Following heavy rains in August 2022, a landslip occurred causing considerable damage to a 70-metre section of the road.

The landslip extended over approximately 70,000 square meters on private property uphill and downhill from the road.

Due to the extent of the damage and ground movement, the road has been closed since.

A report had identified the Landslide Risk Rating as extremely high, and details the extensive repairs needed to anchor the road pavement into the bedrock using piles and rock anchors to ‘bridge’ across the landslip to restore the road safely.

To inform the grant application, an independent engineering consultancy was engaged to review the Landslide Risk Assessment Road repair options and provide a certified engineers estimate of repair costs.

According to shire documents revealed at this week's council meeting, the estimate is $1.4 million, noting this is subject to further assessment of sub-surface ground conditions.

The impact of the road closure is that road users and residents have an 18-kilometre detour around the landslip.

The road also serves almost 25 farming properties, as well as providing an important link between Kernot and Krowera.

The shire recommended that the road is restored to reduce the risk that property access is cut-off in the event of a future landslip.

‘Repairs are required to be made as soon as practical before the wetter winter months. The disaster recovery funding application process is complex and requires considerable evidence and documentation to be successful,” shire documents highlighted.

‘Whilst the Council’s application is assessed and considering the possibility that whole or part funding is not secured, Council’s own funding is required to be used to progress the repairs in a timely manner.

‘In the event this project does not receive government support, Council will need to manage the funding gap through future capital budget cycles.’