Roads, bridges and culverts rarely make the news until they suffer damage. When the 2022 floods tore through the Tweed’s hinterland, the damage was on a scale the region had never seen: 3,476 damaged sites, $257 million in estimated damage, and areas cut off in ways that went well beyond inconvenience.
The damage extended across the entire Shire, from Bilambil to Kunghur, Burringbar to Chillingham, affecting roads and locations serving businesses, farms, properties and the people who depend on them to get in and out. For hinterland areas, the loss of key access corridors meant farmers couldn’t move stock, visitors stopped coming and emergency services had to coordinate carefully with ground crews just to reach residents in critical need. During the most challenging periods on Byrrill Creek Road, that coordination included supporting a home birth and assisting with an attended death, managing dignified access through restricted and damaged routes. For the people who live beyond these roads, access is everything.
The 2022 flood was compounded by 2 further natural disasters: flooding in 2024 and Cyclone Alfred in 2025, resulting in a combined damage bill to the Tweed’s road network approaching $350 million. The recovery program is the largest road infrastructure undertaking this region has seen.
“The scale of what this team has delivered across 3 flood events is extraordinary – it is the equivalent of adding almost 4 times our annual construction program to the work we’re already doing. We’re not just repairing damage. We’re rebuilding to a higher standard wherever possible so that when the next event comes, these assets perform better and recover faster. The roads program alone represents one of the most complex engineering undertakings this region has seen, and the work continues.”
Tim Mackney, Director Engineering, Tweed Shire Council
