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Fremantle Ports plays safe hand with rail bridge

Jessica NicoFremantle Gazette

THE Fremantle Rail Bridge will get a bit more protection next month when construction begins on an underwater rock mound in the inner harbour.

The mound will be built in the harbour’s northwestern corner in a bid to protect the bridge from being hit by vessels, similar to damaging incidents in 2011 and 2014.

Fremantle Ports chief executive Chris Leatt-Hayter said the TAMS-constructed mound would be clearly marked by navigational aids and be 60m long and 20m wide, with the highest point visible only in some low tide conditions.

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“The underwater rock mound will not be in the path of port vessels or commercial/recreational vessels that travel through the spans of the Fremantle Rail Bridge and Fremantle Traffic Bridge,” he said.

He said the impact on current flow within the main channels between the two bridges should be negligible.

A TAMS spokesperson said 14,500 tonnes of locally-sourced limestone core and amour rock would be used in construction.

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