150-year-old jetty falling into disrepair
The Yorke Peninsula town of Edithburgh is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its historic jetty but there are concerns the aging structure is in need of significant repairs. The jetty has recently been upgraded but locals are worried it isn't strong enough to withstand winter storms.
Transcript
00:00 Gearing up for a step back in time, diving demonstrations with equipment from the early
00:08 1900s were part of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Edithburg jetty.
00:15 There's a lot to be said for this jetty. It's been quite an iconic piece of infrastructure
00:21 for Edithburg.
00:23 Diving is one of the many reasons people use the Edithburg jetty. Stairs have recently
00:29 been upgraded to improve access to the water, but there are concerns more significant repairs
00:36 are needed on damaged pylons.
00:38 The biggest problem we hear is if we have a really bad nasty storm through the next
00:43 winter or the next couple of winters, there is a potential risk for this jetty to actually
00:48 collapse in areas.
00:49 The state government has developed business cases into the maintenance of five regional
00:54 jetties, including the one at Edithburg. So far, those results haven't been made public.
01:00 The recent state budget included $20 million in funding for regional jetties, but it's
01:06 not clear how much of that will be needed to ensure the future of this 150-year-old
01:12 structure.
01:13 We're hopeful that some money will be spent to help upgrade the jetty. Some of the poles
01:20 are in need of replacing and we're hoping to get some funding to do that.
01:27 While this community is celebrating the past 150 years, without extra funding, the future
01:34 of this jetty is looking uncertain.
01:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]