Question details
Question on Notice
(1) Why did it take 20 months between December 2023 to August 2025 for the Department of Transport and Planning’s (DTP) structures team to complete final verification of the Latrobe River Bridge.
(2) During the verification period, why was the information that gross mass limits remained in place until final verification was achieved only displayed on the DTP website, and not on road signs.
(3) Given the final verification is to ensure the Latrobe River Bridge matched the approved design and met all safety and performance standards, why has the Minister allowed vehicles to travel on the bridge for 20 months without final verification.
I thank the member for the question.
The Latrobe River Bridge was designed to the appropriate Standards and capable of carrying legal load limits to meet freight demands. Appropriate Quality Assurance was provided by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) during construction and subsequently when it was completed in December 2023, the redundant load limit signs relating to the old bridge were removed from Tyers Road. This permitted vehicles, including trucks up to the legal load limit for arterial roads (nominally 68.5 tonnes for a B-Double) to use Traralgon Tyres Road.
In mid-2024, DTP received the “as-built” drawings from the Contractor allowing for the verification processes to commence. Through DTP’s verification process, clarifications were raised around some aspects of the works that could impact the ability for larger heavy vehicles to utilise the infrastructure. These clarifications had to be resolved before DTP could request the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHRV) to update its maps and the associated gazettes.
DTP apologises for the delay in completing the verification so that the map on the NHRV website could be updated.
Hon Melissa Horne MP
Minister for Health Infrastructure
Minister for Ports and Freight
Minister for Roads and Road Safety