Brisbane City Council’s ferry network is likely to be out of action for up to three months, while damage to bikeways could take years to repair as council faces an "arduous" clean-up job.
While most of the ferry terminals that were replaced after the 2011 floods performed as planned, with gangways lifting clear of the floodwaters and only suffering minimal damage, Regatta terminal in Toowong suffered heavy damage.
Transport committee chair Ryan Murphy says the damage to the Regatta terminal is a particular concern as the council begins detailed assessments across the ferry network.
Mr Murphy said most of the other terminals were being assessed with damage to electrical infrastructure, balustrades and other infrastructure reported.
The ferry terminals at Holman Street, QUT, Milton and UQ all performed as expected with the swinging gangways preventing worse damage, he said.
But the decommissioned Thornton Street terminal has been completely swept away with the underwater structures needing to be cleared before the river can be reopened.
Eight damaged CityCats are off the river being assessed for insurance claims, Mr Murphy told the council’s transport committee on Tuesday morning, while all four smaller KittyCat ferries are also off the river being assessed for damage.
One CityCat, Beenung-Urrung, sank last week during the floods after being struck by a houseboat. Another ferry, Kuluwin, also suffered heavy damage and is being repaired.
Hydrographic surveys of the river must be completed before the ferry network can reopen, along with detailed structural assessments of each of the terminals and associated infrastructure, Mr Murphy said.
On the bus network, many of the council’s bus depots and driver facilities are heavily damaged, Mr Murphy said, but bus services are returning to normal.
Bikeway damage to take months
Bikeways across Brisbane also suffered heavy damage, with the derelict Drift restaurant washing up on top of the Bicentennial Bikeway near Milton during the floods and Kedron Brook Bikeway completely washed out near Grange on the northside.
The council has about 395 kilometres of off-road bikeways citywide, of which about 235 kilometres were inundated with water, Mr Murphy said.
Mr Murphy said five major bikeways used by thousands of commuters daily are the highest priority – the Bicentennial Bikeway, New Farm Riverwalk, City Reach Board Walk, Kangaroo Point Bikeway and Kedron Brook Bikeway.
"The repairs to [bikeways] will, I believe, take several months, if not years," he said.
Mr Murphy warned some of the bikeway repairs might be only temporary as raw materials are in "extreme" short supply.
