With recovery of Angle Vale Bridge from the Gawler River almost complete, Heaslip Road at Gawler River has now reopened. Traffic controllers will be on site on Heaslip Road on Thursday 1 June while the elements of Angle Vale Bridge are returned to Council. The road will remain open to road users but please exercise care and caution when travelling in the area and observe any reduced speed limits.

Council is acting quickly to recover the elements of Angle Vale Bridge from the Gawler River.

Road users are advised that to facilitate these emergency works Heaslip Road will be closed to traffic at Gawler River during daylight hours from 6:00AM Monday 29 May 2023.

Detours will be via Baker Road to the west and the Northern Expressway to the east. Heaslip Road will reopen in the evenings. The road closure is expected to be in place between 2-5 days while the emergency works take place. Heaslip Road will be reopened as soon as possible.

While Council continues to assess the situation, we remind the public that it is not safe to access the site of Angle Vale Bridge under any circumstance and members of the public are not permitted to go beyond the fenced off exclusion zone.

Angle Vale Bridge is a vertically laminated timber arch bridge which was built in 1876 over the Gawler River on Heaslip Road, Angle Vale. The blue stone abutments and the arch elements of the bridge are State Heritage listed.

The bridge was used by vehicle traffic until 1966 when the adjacent road bridge was constructed. It was then used as a pedestrian footbridge until several years ago when it was closed to the public due to its deteriorating condition.

The bridge crosses the boundary of the City of Playford and Light Regional Council and as such is under the joint custodianship of the two councils.

A project to upgrade the Angle Vale Bridge was included in the Annual Business Plans of both Councils for 2022/23.

The project has been underway since June 2022 and has included inspection, non-destructive testing of bridge elements, detailed design for its restoration and more recently the design and fabrication of a supporting structure to stabilise the bridge in order that it can be restored.

The stabilisation structure and external engineering crews were due to arrive on site at the end of May 2023 to commence works. The bridge had begun moving significantly in recent weeks and unfortunately, late afternoon on Thursday 25 May 2023, Angle Vale Bridge gave way and collapsed into the Gawler River.

In anticipation of this possible outcome given the age and fragility of the bridge, Council had erected warning signs, temporary fencing and an exclusion zone advice in the area to protect members of the public.

No members of the public were injured and there was no damage to the adjacent bridge during yesterday’s collapse.

Council staff are currently assessing the situation and will commence recovery of the bridge elements as soon as possible.

While we understand it is of interest, the surrounding area at the site of Angle Vale Bridge has no infrastructure to cater for pedestrians and is not safe to access. Reduced speed restrictions are also in place around the site. If you must travel through the area, please abide by the signed speed limit.

Road closures will be required to facilitate the recovery works. Council will keep the public notified of when this is to occur.