Whitsunday Regional Council have announced the awarding of the contract for the first part of major upgrades to Airlie Beach’s Bicentennial Boardwalk, with the total project closing in on $3.5 million.
The design for upgrades to each of the Boardwalk’s three sections will be delivered by local business Plants Whitsunday – who worked on recent comparable Council projects such as the Airlie Beach Lagoon deck installation.
Council’s Coordinator Capital Project Delivery Michael Downing said the total “renewal” will eventually encompass the entirety of the boardwalk and its three sections from VMR to Shingley, Sorrento to Coral Sea Resort, and the Broadwater Avenue section.
He said these initial upgrades were for “Separable Portion 2” and will cost over $902 thousand dollars.
“We will be replacing the full structure on the Sorrento to Coral Sea Resort, starting hopefully around April [2023],” Mr Downing said.
“In those months before, [Plants Whitsunday] will be designing the whole renewal of the boardwalk.”
Council have provided Plants Whitsunday with a provisional $2.5 million for Separable Portion 1 and 3 of the Boardwalk, subject to funding and future budgetary approvals for 2023-25
The boardwalk’s entire structure will be replaced as part of the upgrades – save for the footing, which is embedded into the rock and will “remain suitable for reuse”.
“The rest of the structure, mainly the timber, will be replaced because of the maintenance it takes,” Mr Downing said.
“Anyone using the boardwalk will notice there are people down there almost every day replacing boards, and it’s a significant cost. We’ve used some external funding to do this first stage and hopefully in the next few years the other stages.”
Mr Downing also said that, as part of the new design, the width of the boardwalk will be expanded, bringing it to roughly 3.5-metres wide.
“This is mainly because of the number of users; so, while we do it, why not upgrade it and get better width?” he said.
During the Portion 2 upgrades, the Boardwalk will be inaccessible to residents and a concrete timeline for the works has yet to be announced by Council.
Airlie Beach’s Bicentennial Boardwalk is receiving a $3.5 million upgrade. Photo contributed
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