Milestone in Black Mountain project as tender is issued

Black Mountain landslide site

Six thousand cubic metres of concrete – equivalent to two and a half Olympic size swimming pools and 800 tonnes of steel are some of the materials needed to restore the section of Black Mountain damaged in the 2022 floods.

The landslide – as wide as a rugby league playing field and as deep as a five-storey building – is the largest ever reconstruction tender to be issued by Noosa Council.

The tender documents were issued this week after design concepts were endorsed by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.

Council’s infrastructure services director Larry Sengstock said it was hoped to have a contractor in place as soon as possible.

“It’s a significant milestone to issue this multi-million dollar tender as engineers have grappled with the complexities and challenges of restoring such a significant landslip,” he said.

Tender documents show that construction crews will be required to drive more than 300 steel and concrete piles into the ground to create a solid platform to rebuild the road and stabilise the road area at depths between five metres and 25 metres.

“We still have a considerable amount of work to do, but issuing the tender is a significant project milestone,” Mr Sengstock said.

“Given the significant engineering and market-based challenges, we remain hopeful of getting strong responses from major construction firms.”

Mayor Clare Stewart said it was positive to see the project reach this milestone.

“We appreciate the challenges faced by residents of Black Mountain and we have endeavoured to assist in as many ways as possible.

“The landslide is quite complex, and we thank the impacted communities for their patience and willingness to adapt to the ongoing changes this disaster has created for them,” she said.

The tender period closes May 23.