Flood debris removed at Black Weir as part of recovery effort

Townsville City Council is working to reopen one of the most popular areas on Ross River, Black Weir.

The popular skiing, rowing and fishing destination has been closed since the monsoon.

Infrastructure Committee Chair Cr Mark Molachino said Council has commissioned a contractor to remove any obstructions.

“A search of the area found 49 objects in the water and 17 of those obstructions have to be removed before we can re-open the river and Black Weir,” Cr Molachino said.

“We’ve spotted another seven obstacles close to the river bank and they’ll be examined while the workers are on the water.”

Division 6 Councillor Verena Coombe said Black Weir trapped some items in the floods.

“There are a number of trees and branches that need to be removed but we’re also dealing with lumps of concrete and pieces of pipe that were washed downstream in the flood,” Cr Coombe said.

“We expect the clean up to take a number of days due to the unknown size of the objects.”

Cr Molachino said the workers will try to remove anything that is less than 3 metres below the surface.

“We want a 3 metre clearance in the river but some objects are too big to remove,” Cr Molachino said.

“Those will be clearly marked so people can avoid them.

“The flood created a lot of the issues we’re dealing with at Black Weir and reopening it is an important step in the city’s recovery.

“People want to be back on the river enjoying themselves again, they want to get back to their old routine – whether it is skiing, rowing or fishing.”