Joyce's Bridge

Project typeBridge Renewal
Project value$3.11M
Project scheduleComplete
Contractor nameCoastal Works

Timeframe

Construction commenced in March 2025 and was completed in December 2025.

Funding

The Joyces Bridge replacement was funded by the the NSW Government’s Fixing Country Bridges program, a program that supports councils to replace ageing timber bridges and improve safety, connectivity and resilience across regional and rural communities.

Community Impacts

The new bridge is now open to traffic.

About the Bridge

Joyce's Bridge is located on Darkwood Road approximately 4.1 kilometres from the intersection with Waterfall Way. The existing bridge was originally built in the 1960's, with ageing and wear beginning to pose ongoing concerns. The new bridge is a single lane, concrete bridge, lifted in height by approx.1.5 metres.

Environmental Approvals

Bellingen Shire Council completed extensive environmental assessments for the replacement of the bridges (Justins, Joyces, Hobarts and Duffys).

Through this assessment process the potential for impacts to the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle (Myuchelys georgesi) were identified as part of the construction of the new bridges.

Council assessed the Project under Part 5 Division 5.1 of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) and Part 7 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act).

As part of the assessment for the works a Species Impact Statement (SIS) was issued to the Biodiversity and Conservation Division of the Department of Planning and Environment and was made available for public exhibition.

The purpose of a Species Impact Statement (SIS) is to:

Allow the proponent to identify threatened species, ecological communities, or their habitats, assess the likely effect of impact from the activity on threatened species, ecological communities, or their habitats, and provide appropriate amelioration for adverse impacts resulting from the activity.

The federal Environmental Approvals have been granted and can be found here

CO10000-ENV-PLN-0001_EMP_DarkwoodBridges_v0.4.pdf(PDF, 8MB)

12611463-REP-1_REF-Joyces-Bridge.pdf(PDF, 42MB)

4636-1034-GBF-Management-Plan-All-Bridges_V3.pdf(PDF, 8MB)

CO10000-ENV-PLN-0001-ERSED-Control-Plan_v1.pdf(PDF, 11MB)

CO10000-ENV-PLN-0002-Hygiene-Plan.pdf(PDF, 755KB)

CO10000-ENV-PLN-0003-Weed-and-Pest-Management-Plan.pdf(PDF, 874KB)

CO10000-ENV-PLN-0004-Water-Quality-Management-Plan.pdf(PDF, 430KB)

CO10000-ENV-REG-0003-Project-Non-Conformance-Register.pdf(PDF, 67KB)

CO10000-ENV-SOP-0002-Basic-Hygiene-Procedure.pdf(PDF, 267KB)

CO10000-ENV-SOP-0003-Strict-Hygiene-Procedure.pdf(PDF, 269KB)

CO10000-WHS-PLA-0001-Emergency-Response-Plan.pdf(PDF, 383KB)