Latrobe River Bridge Replacement - Protecting our environment and heritage

A new, stronger bridge and safer road alignment will provide an improved connection between Traralgon and Tyers for drivers, cyclists and freight operators.

We understand the complex balance of improving road safety and connecting communities whilst caring for our natural environment.

We share the value the community places on the environment, and we’re working hard to minimise tree removal and disturbance to wildlife where we can. 

Environmental and heritage assessments

Environment

To understand the environmental area near the Latrobe River bridge and what we can do to minimise our impact on this area and its important flora and fauna, we engaged experts to conduct environmental assessments. 

They undertook extensive investigations and studies including:

• Ecological assessments, including targeted surveys for the Australian Grayling and Growling Grass Frog
• Cultural heritage assessments for the Bluff Causeway bridge.
• Hydraulic assessment to identify impact on flood levels.

Environmental approval to replace the Latrobe River bridge and deliver safety improvements on Tyers Road on either side of the new bridge has been obtained under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999.

The EPBC Act is Australia’s central piece of environmental legislation. The EPBC Act provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places.

Heritage

The heritage listed Bluff Causeway Bridge was bult in 1920-21 and was of significance to locals of Tyers, Traralgon and surrounding settlements in the early 20th century.

We’ve worked with key stakeholders including Latrobe City Council to ensure impact to the bridge is minimised by construction. A Conservation Management Plan will be developed to befollowed during construction for the Bluff Causeway Bridge.

Protecting our native trees, vegetation and wildlife

• We’ve worked with key stakeholders to change the bridge location and alignment and refine the design to minimise environment impact. 
• We’ve collected and donated Strzelecki Gum seeds from the site and provided more than 950 young plants to the Latrobe Catchment Landcare Network who distributed to local Landcare groups. 
• We’ll work with independent arborists to identify trees that can be retained during construction
• We’ll maintain upstream and downstream fish movements during construction to avoid impacting key Australian Grayling migration periods.
• Approximately 900 Strzelecki Gums will be propagated and planted near the project worksite to offset the unavoidable impact of the works. 
• In March 2022, we worked with the Royal Botanic Gardens to collect Strzelecki Gum seeds from the worksite. The seeds will be propagated at the Royal Botanics Nursery in South Yarra and a specimen will be planted in the Gardens. 

The Royal Botanic Gardens collecting Strezlecki Gum seeds

Protecting and remembering our heritage

We share the value the community places on highlighting the area’s history through the bridge. 

We will be restoring 3 spans (approximately 18.3 metres long) of the Bluff Causeway Bridge to ensure future generations can enjoy the important part of our community’s history that the bridge represents. 

We will also be modifying a further 4 spans (approximately 24.4 metres long) of the Bluff Causeway Bridge to remove decking and beams that are unsafe and under threat of collapse. This will ensure the bridge can remain safe for future generations to view. 

Read more about the Latrobe River Bridge replacement on the project page.