Rural roads make the grade despite water shortage

Published on 30 May 2019

Despite a lack of water impacting on its rural road maintenance program, Rockhampton Regional Council is on track to grade and resheet more than 500km of rural roads this financial year.

Infrastructure Committee Chair Councillor Tony Williams said the target was no small feat given the impact of the drought on Council’s usual water sources.

“Water is essential to grading an unsealed road – without it, you can’t do it,” Cr Williams said.

“Whenever you grade a road, you need the water trucks to wet the gravel which the grader then mixes up and spreads out again to get the road back into shape.

“With the ongoing impact of the drought conditions, it means our water trucks are either having to travel further for the water and taking more time or we’re having to put on a second water truck, which increases the cost of grading per kilometre.

“Despite that challenge, Council is on track to grade 100 kilometres more than we did just two years ago, which reflects our commitment to rural ratepayers to ensure we maintain our unsealed road network to the best possible standard.

“We currently have seven grader crews in the field carrying out this work with just over a month left before the end of the financial year so there’s a busy four weeks ahead.

“We know the drought is having an impact on people and businesses across the region but we also know most people wouldn’t realise the impact it has on Council’s ability to maintain the rural roads unless you live in a rural community or know how the process goes.

“To provide a little bit more insight, Council recently produced a small video which explains exactly how we grade a road which we’ve put on our social media channels and website to inform the community,” Cr Williams said.

The video can be viewed on Rockhampton Regional Council’s Facebook page.