The Stormwater project is one of the largest Capital Works Projects the Council has undertaken.
The Council’s success in obtaining Grant funding from the Federal Government’s Regional Jobs and Investment Packages Program Local Infrastructure Stream along with the additional funds required allocated by Council will finance this project which is now in the final design stages.
The project will see the upgrade of the existing Stormwater Drainage system servicing Huonville, where it has been recognised that the existing drain is under capacity during high rain events and when modelled for future climate change, the potential flooding impacts will increase.
Studies have been undertaken in the past decade recommending various solutions in relation to the Huonville Main Drain. In 2016, Council’s Infrastructure Services Department commenced catchment and stormwater system modelling to confirm the results of past studies and to determine the most appropriate and effective solution to increase the capacity of the Main Drain.
The Team have confirmed that the preferred solution to increase capacity of the Huonville Main Drain entails diverting flows away from the current alignment of Main Drain and into an adjacent catchment – with the capacity to handle the additional flows with no increased impact on flooding downstream.
This project involves three components in order to deliver the improvements:-
Section A: Installation of 1,000 metres of 1600mm pipe through the subdivision.
Section B: Clearing and widening Skinners Creek upstream of Sale Street
Section C: Replace existing Skinners Creek below Sale Street with gabion baskets for approximately 400 metres
The design is to ensure capacity for a 1% Annual Exceedance Probability 2090 (this is an attempt to simplify the definition of an extreme rain event that statistically has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year).
The delivery of this project will not mitigate flooding from the Huon River, it is to increase the capacity of the current stormwater network and reduce the instances of overland flooding.
This project is now complete. The drains are working well and the new art installations have been installed.
The Skinners Creek walking track is now open (shown in green below). Our Parks & Reserves crew will be carrying out some plantings in the next couple of weeks.
Development Application lodged.
Procurement of 1600mm concrete pipes – Contract awarded and fabrication commenced.
Stage 1 – Request for quotation awarded to contractor consisting of approximately 200m of 1600mm pipeline upstream of Sale Street bridge.
Stage 1 – Construction of pipeline to commence upon the issue of Development Application Permit.
Stage 2 – Request for Tender for construction of remainder of pipeline and upstream/downstream Skinners Creek works opened 8 May 2019 – closing 5 June 2019.
Stage 2 – Works to commence late 2019 in expectation of ideal weather and soil conditions.
The Development Application was presented to Council on 12 June and approved for implementation.
Installation of the 1-kilometre-long Diversion Pipeline began on Monday 21 October 2019, but will be put on hold until February/March 2020 while works are redirected to Section C of the project along Lower Skinners Creek.
From Monday 11 November 2019 the whole of the Skinners Creek Walking Track will be closed until further notice while the creek and surrounds undergo channel widening, vegetation clearing including tree removal, gabion basket installation for structural support, and walking track upgrades.
A breakdown of timeframes for each section is as follows (please refer to the Design Concept):
- Section A – Diversion Pipeline: On hold until February/March 2020 until works on Lower Skinners Creek are done.
- Section B – Upper Skinners Creek: Works will start mid-November 2019 and take about three weeks to complete. Traffic will not be affected.
- Section C – Lower Skinners Creek: Works will start on Monday 11 November 2019 and during this time the whole Skinners Creek Walking Track will be closed.
- Skinners Creek Bridge Replacement: Expected to take place January 2020.
Council apologises for any inconvenience that the short-notice closure of the walking track may cause.
Please check back here for regular progress updates, diversion route information, and expected timelines and finish dates.
The Huonville Stormwater Upgrades project is progressing well, with installation of the Diversion Pipeline and open channel sections slowed only by a couple of days due to poor weather.
- Section A – Diversion Pipeline: A total of 784.96m of the Diversion Pipeline is in place, which equates to 313 lengths of 1.6 concrete pipes.
- Section C – Lower Skinners Creek: Along lower Skinners Creek, the installation of the gabion baskets and first section of the Reno Mattress is now complete. The placement of the large rock-lined section below the gabion baskets has also commenced, and the wing walls to cover the gabion baskets downstream are under construction.
- Skinners Creek Bridge Replacement: The bridge is now in place, with the footing excavated, concrete poured and all pre-cast components installed.
