Public Works Committee: Granite Island Causeway Project

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:14): I move:

That the 100^th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Granite Island Causeway Project, be noted.

As members are aware, the Granite Island Causeway is considered a Victor Harbor tourism, commercial and recreational landmark and provides the only link between Granite Island and Victor Harbor. It is estimated that each year approximately 700,000 pedestrians access the causeway. Over the years, as members are also aware, the causeway has experienced significant structural works. These have included a rebuild in 1957, replacement of deteriorated timber piles and steel piles in 1994 and repairs to the timber decking in 1997. There have since been further repairs to timber piles.

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport commissioned a condition assessment and structural review of the entire causeway, and this work concluded that the structure had reached the end of its useful life and directed major refurbishment to the causeway or replacement within a 12 to 24-month period. A subsequent feasibility study in August 2019 recommended the replacement of the causeway rather than refurbishment.

The proposed new causeway will have a design life of 100 years and will be constructed just east of the existing causeway with around a 10-metre separation, which will remain in operation and ensure access to Granite Island is maintained throughout the project. These arrangements are expected to minimise impacts to tourism and local businesses.

Broadly, the proposed scope of works includes the construction of a new structure approximately six metres wide and approximately 640 metres in length, subject to detailed design and engineering; a boat landing facility on the new causeway; interface works on the mainland and on Granite Island; modification to existing tram facilities; and decommissioning of the existing causeway, subject to approvals.

The current approved budget is $31.1 million, funded by the South Australian government, and it is advised that additional funding will be required to deliver the proposed scope of works, which is currently estimated at $36.543 million. DIT has advised that costs are expected to be further refined as part of the detailed design stage. Any required additional funding will be subject to state approvals. Works on the new Granite Island Causeway were expected to commence in late 2020, and it is anticipated that the new causeway will be open to public access in late 2021, with all works, including the decommissioning of the existing causeway, expected to be complete in 2022, weather permitting.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to this project and received assurances that the appropriate consultation in relation to the project had been undertaken. The committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and meets the criteria for the examination of projects set out in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Based on the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the scope of the public works that I have described to members.

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM (Finniss—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (11:18): The Granite Island Causeway is certainly an important part of infrastructure within the electorate of Finniss. The connection to Granite Island is very much loved, and the ability to walk across to the island and enjoy its scenery or to spend some time doing some exercise are very much-loved activities. Whether it is Christmas Day or any day of the year, there are many people who go across to the island. Christmas Day is a bit of a family specialty of mine. We walk off Christmas dinner by going across to the island, and there will be hundreds of people doing likewise. It is very much enjoyed by the community.

It is very important that we maintain this strong historic link to the island. I have been very impressed by the community's strength and will generally to see this causeway rebuilt. They are generally very much behind the project proceeding, and I think the new project is certainly going to deliver a better causeway than we currently have. The original structure has been there for so long now and it has come to the end of its useful life.

The government had to act at the beginning of 2019, in the first week of January, because the horse-drawn tram was going across the causeway and one of the wooden piles snapped under the weight of the horse-drawn tram. That led to a review of the whole structure. They looked at the structure and that led to a short-term closure while some significant works needed to be done as an interim measure to secure the causeway for its safety going forward.

That required what I would describe as ceiling props being put underneath to hold up the causeway. Those props have a significant weight to bear at the moment in holding up the causeway. As part of the safety of the causeway, at this point in time it requires constant monitoring of those props, in particular after strong wind and wave events that lead to the possible erosion of sand holding those props, and that requires them to be checked.

Recently, there was a very large swell that led to one of those props actually just falling out while the causeway was shut. That led to a full week of the causeway being shut while things were readjusted and reset to make sure that it was safe for people to use. That very much highlights how a timber structure 170-plus years old has come to the end of its life. It is unrepairable. As a farmer, I would look at it and consider that there was no way that we could—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: A bit of binder twine would pull it all together.

The Hon. D.K.B. BASHAM: A bit of binder twine might give some people security, but I am sure not many. That is certainly how some farmers might fix things, but I think it is so much better to see that we are committing to the life of the structure of 100 years going forward and investing in that structure.

It is certainly fascinating to go down there now and look at the people who are watching the new build going on. Work started a couple of weeks ago, and the work and how the build its going are absolutely fascinating. Two large cranes actually do most of the heavy lifting in relation to the build. They have built what I would describe as three temporary platforms that they use to get one of the large cranes out to where the piles need to be driven.

The front platform has guides that hold the piles that need to be driven into the ground to make sure that they are held straight and accurately in the location where they need to be put. The crane lifts the piledriver on top of those piles to drive in those piles, two at each cross member, and that is where the structure will eventually sit on top of those piles.

I have spoken to some of the staff down there doing the work and the accuracy of the drives at this point in time has been amazing. I believe they have a tolerance of about eight centimetres that it can be out over 20 metres. To this point, they have only been four millimetres out, which is amazing. If you stand up a 20-metre pole and try to keep it straight, to think that you can do that, pushing it into the ground, is a credit to the engineers and the technicians putting this into place. It is a fascinating thing to see.

The three temporary platforms are set out there on the piles that have been put in place. The crane stays out on these platforms and leapfrogs itself by lifting the front platform out of the way and bringing the back platform to the front. It then moves that one and brings the front platform back to the front again, which means that it is not actually going to be connected back to the mainland as it is being built. That will only occur once they then backfill, with the second large crane lifting the permanent structure into place.

The permanent structure is also a fascinating piece of work. What has been done is going to actually tell a story itself. The platform itself is going to have a story etched into it, telling the Aboriginal story of the area, which has been developed with the Ngarrindjeri Ramindjeri people, an amazing connecting story to be told as people walk across. The local Aboriginal community were down there at the sod turning, and they were full of praise about this story being told in this way and about how it would be etched into the concrete and be there permanently for the 100-year life of the structure for everyone to walk over and see.

There are many other parts of this causeway. As the member for Kavel mentioned, there is going to be a boat landing site. There is a great business operating there now, The Big Duck tours, which takes you out in a large rubber duck boat to do a tour around the coast. It takes you to places and scenery that you cannot get to by any other means than in a boat, to see some of the cliffs around the other side of the Bluff. The beauty that is around that corner is amazing. You can enjoy that from the water and see what is there, see the wildlife that is out in the sea. During the whale watching season, it enables you to go out and, from a safe distance, observe the whales from the water.

This is a very important structure, not just for Victor Harbor and not just for Finniss but for South Australia. This is a structure that will stand the test of time. It will maintain that historic connection back to Granite Island, which has been there for 170-plus years, for another 100 years. As I have always said, through the last couple of years since we needed the causeway to be rebuilt, the thing that the community wants the most is that connection; the history of that connection is what is so important to that community.

It is certainly leading to significant interest in Victor Harbor. We have had numerous developers putting large projects forward. Currently, the redevelopment of the Anchorage is in the process of getting the planning approvals to go ahead to see a $100 million plus development on the site. Only as recently as last week, we have also seen the investment of up to $40 million in the South Coast centred around the McCracken Golf Club in Victor Harbor. This is showing the confidence of the community to invest in the community where the state Liberal Marshall government is also investing.