Official Opening of Sofala’s All-new Big Oaky Creek Bridge
Published on 10 June 2025
The construction of Sofala’s brand-new Big Oaky Creek Bridge on Upper Turon Road has recently been completed.
Local media is invited to attend an official opening of the bridge today with Acting Mayor, Cr Ben Fry, and Member for Bathurst, The Hon. Paul Toole.
Where: 261 Upper Turon Road, Sofala
Cr Ben Fry, Acting Bathurst Mayor, noted the benefit of this infrastructure upgrade to the Sofala community and wider Bathurst Region.
“The old wooden bridge was rapidly approaching the end of its lifespan. Thanks to funding from the State Government's Fixing Country Bridges Program, this stretch of road has a new lease on life.
“The all-new concrete Big Oaky Creek Bridge is dual-lane, reducing an oft-challenging bottleneck, and has advanced hydraulics and a 300mm height increase, designed for a 1 in 50-years storm.
“The overall level of service and ease of use is vastly improved and delivers a futureproofed asset to all those travelling across the region,” said Cr Fry.
Member for Bathurst, The Hon. Paul Toole MP, remarked that safer and stronger bridges will help keep motorists moving around the Bathurst Region for generations to come.
“With each timber bridge replaced, we’re opening up more efficient routes for everyone from heavy freight vehicles to the local school bus and even RFS tankers to reach incidents quicker.
“Safer roads mean safer journeys for everyone,” said Mr Toole.
With the construction of the all-new concrete bridge completed, Council is pleased to commence work on the updated road approaches. This has been made possible through $400,000 of funding from the State Government.
These works will be completed by the end of July.
Council looks forward to announcing the full completion of this project soon, with an official ribbon-cutting date to be set for August.
Media contact: Genevieve Green Media and Communications Officer