Council & Business
18 August, 2022
Final flood levee stage underway
More than 10 years after significant flooding impacted Carisbrook, construction on the final stage of the Carisbrook Flood Levee is now underway. The first three stages of the project, as designed by specialists Entura, have already been completed...
More than 10 years after significant flooding impacted Carisbrook, construction on the final stage of the Carisbrook Flood Levee is now underway.
The first three stages of the project, as designed by specialists Entura, have already been completed — with stage three wrapping up last September with the completion of the levee along Pleasant Street from the Pyrenees Highway to the railway line, and High Street from the railway line to Church Street.
Stage four of the works cover the final section of the western levee — south of the Pyrenees Highway — and will include the construction of a 1500 metre earthen levee bank, open drainage and associated works and will be carried out by local company Doran Earthmoving.
It comes more than 10 years after a major flood event in 2010 and 2011 inundated parts of Carisbrook and surrounds, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
Central Goldfields Shire manager infrastructure assets and planning Matthew Irving said while the levee cannot guarantee protection from future flooding, it will mitigate their impact.
“The community have been waiting for some time for this and this work will certainly bring a lot more protection to the area in mitigating floods,” he said.
“The levee won’t completely protect from floods but it will certainly provide a really good benefit for the community.
“This is the fourth and final stage of the levee given the works program we’ve got, but once it’s completed we will be doing some updated flood mapping work.
“That’s just to better understand what the impacts of flooding will be once the levee is in place and that’s also for the community to be able to see what those revised flood impacts will be.”
The levee’s final stage has been jointly funded with $1.2 million from both the federal and state governments, with council contributing a further $600,000.
The overall levee project has attracted its fair share of criticism and controversy, with residents expressing frustration at the length of time it’s taken for the project to progress and flagging concerns the levee will cause flooding in areas previously unaffected, as well as criticising council’s community consultation.
Central Goldfields Shire mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor has previously stated both council and the community wanted to see the project finalised, describing the final stage of works as a “milestone” for the project.
“This is the final critical step in managing flood mitigation in Carisbrook, and so to have works underway is without a doubt one of the biggest milestones for the project to date,” he said.
“We thank the federal and state governments for their continued support in delivering this critical project and acknowledge that is has been a long process for our community of Carisbrook.”
Construction of the levee is expected to be completed by the end of November, weather permitting.