A contract to continue the flood immunity improvements on the Victoria Highway to National Highway standard was released for public tender today.

The project will replace the existing bridges on the Victoria Highway at Big Horse and Little Horse Creeks with higher level bridges and approaches.

The project includes upgrades to the intersections at Big Horse Creek boat ramp and Bradshaw Bridge car park access roads.

On completion of works, increased year round accessibility for the pastoral, agricultural and transport industry, tourism and local users on the National Highway will be realised.

Improvement to the bridges structural capacity will negate the need to have load restrictions that impact commercial operators and Department of Defence operations.

The Victoria Highway provides the only sealed link between the Northern Territory and Western Australia providing a critical link in the Perth to Darwin National Corridor.

Big Horse and Little Horse creeks are located on the Victoria Highway about 300 km west of Katherine near the township of Timber Creek, are tributaries of the Victoria River and when in flood the highway is closed at both these crossings on average for 96 hours annually.

On completion, the project will achieve a minimum 1-in-20-year flood immunity for the Victoria Highway; and reduce the Annual Average Time of Closure (AAToC) from four days to less than 12 hours for each crossing during flood events.

This project will be jointly funded by the Australian and Northern Territory governments through the National Highway Upgrade Programme – Infrastructure Investment Programme.

Media contact: Simone Phasey 8924 7028