{"id":24027,"date":"2023-11-15T18:45:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T18:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=24027"},"modified":"2023-11-15T18:45:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T18:45:05","slug":"cobb-completion-the-final-piece-in-states-sealed-highway-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/11\/15\/cobb-completion-the-final-piece-in-states-sealed-highway-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"Cobb completion the final piece in state\u2019s sealed highway puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NSW has a fully sealed highway road network for the first time in its history following completion of a mammoth $195 million project to bitumen seal two Outback highways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The historic milestone was reached after crews finished sealing the final 3.9-kilometre section of the Cobb Highway near Halfway Tree between Ivanhoe and Wilcannnia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Completion of the 132-kilometre total Cobb Highway sealing work follows finishing of the 153-kilometre Silver City Highway sealing in late 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About 150 workers \u2014 including engineers, road workers, trainees, apprentices and contractors \u2014&nbsp;&nbsp; were employed each year on the project which commenced in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The remote location meant workers had no access to an established base or nearby infrastructure, and they were away from their families for months at a time living in caravans at makeshift camps which were built near highway work sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About 700,000 tonnes of crushed gravel and 43,000 tonnes of aggregate was used to build and seal the Cobb Highway while work crews camped on-site to ensure the work was completed, battling the elements and isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key features of both highway projects include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>New drainage structures to combat flooding<\/li><li>A new bridge at Packsaddle Creek<\/li><li>A new landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Shannons Creek<\/li><li>Close consultation with local Registered Aboriginal Parties to preserve and document culturally-sensitive areas such as those near Mount Manara<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe sealing of these Outback highways will improve safety, slash journey times, reduce the risk of fatigue and increase resilience against extreme weather events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cImportantly, this work also means there will be more reliable access to hospitals, schools and essential services for the communities living in the most remote parts of NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of the Minns Labor Government I want to thank all the workers who\u2019ve delivered this project for the incredible legacy they have built for our state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Independent Member for Barwon Roy Butler said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPrior to being sealed, both highways could be closed several weeks a year due to wet weather and these closures hit residents and businesses hard while cutting access to essential services and isolating interstate road users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe sealing of both highways now means the need for road closures has been reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe highways will also be safer for tourists visiting the Outback who, along with people moving livestock and freight operators, will also benefit from reduced travel times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wilcannia Tourism Association president Bill Elliott said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe never thought we\u2019d see the day the Cobb was sealed the whole way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s felt like a never-ending push to get it done, but it is amazing to have seen this project completed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Transport for NSW Works supervisor Kevin Bath said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe hardest part is living away from family, but we build bonds while we build the roads and try to make camp life as fun as we can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s also a great sense of pride amongst the team, working on projects that will directly benefit the communities that we come from.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NSW has a fully sealed highway road network for the first time in its history following completion of a mammoth $195 million project to bitumen seal two Outback highways. The historic milestone was reached after crews finished sealing the final 3.9-kilometre section of the Cobb Highway near Halfway Tree between Ivanhoe and Wilcannnia. Completion of &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2023\/11\/15\/cobb-completion-the-final-piece-in-states-sealed-highway-puzzle\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Cobb completion the final piece in state\u2019s sealed highway puzzle&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24028,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027\/revisions\/24028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}