00:00there is a saying that goes build a bridge and get over it but in reality it's not that simple
00:11on the new south wales far south coast there's a long-standing debate over the future of a single
00:18lane timber bridge at cutagee sheena baojan has been fighting for years to preserve the historic
00:24structure because you have to slow down you have this little moment of just looking around built
00:29in 1892 the historic wooden bridge is in need of an upgrade and its replacement options have
00:36sparked a debate one option is to knock it down and build a two-lane concrete bridge it's got no
00:44character it's got no identity and it doesn't embrace the magnificent setting of this place
00:49where nature really should be the dominant voice responsible for 30 wooden bridges the local council
00:56is struggling to manage aging infrastructure we need to make sure it's safe in a disaster we need
01:02to make sure the school bus when it goes across it doesn't fall in so we need to have public safety
01:06that's number one there are around 5 000 timber bridges like the one behind me that are still
01:12in use across the country most were built more than a century ago and are now reaching the end of their
01:19life so it's a matter of picking which bridges we're going to keep as timber and which bridges that we
01:27will replace in concrete bridge expert john hilton says engineers are now shifting away from timber
01:34bridges because there are so few timber bridges constructed in australia today the industry is not
01:43geared up for it we are totally committed to keeping the slowness of this bridge bridging the gap from the
01:51past into the future
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