A $1.1 million tender to construct a bridge over Old Warburton Road for the Warburton Mountain Bike Destination (WMBD) trail was approved at the 27 May Yarra Ranges Council meeting.
After an advertisement for the tender was issued on 1 February 2025, six tenders were received and Road and Bridge Pty Ltd secured the contract.
Yarra Ranges Council mayor Jim Child said the new bridge would be a “tremendous asset” for the WMBD project.
“I’ll be so glad to see this bridge across the Old Warburton Road, which will be one of the strategic trail passes where we won’t have conflict between motor vehicles and mountain bikers.”
Road and Bridge Pty Ltd were granted the contract following an evaluation process from the Tender Evaluation Panel.
The bridge will connect the Mt Tugwell and Mt Little Joe trail networks and will be built at a location approved by the Department of Transport and Planning and Melbourne Water.
The motion to approve the tender was carried unanimously and councillor Tim Heenan expressed support for the new bridge.
“I was proud some time ago when we managed to finally get some movement on one of your bridges up there, I think in East Warburton, where the children were walking in very close location of vehicles crossing over the bridge,” Cr Heenan said.
“I know that took many moons to get that through, and this one’s obviously just as important for all the right reasons, in particular, safety. So I’m very happy to support this motion tonight.”
The tender price of the bridge fell within the WMBD project’s budget which included roughly $7.6 million in grant income.
