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Last Updated: Friday, 06 June 2025 08:24

Published: Friday, 06 June 2025 08:24

The Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project (CDSIP) team recently partnered with the Queensland Police Service (QPS) to enhance officers’ understanding of site access during the project’s construction phase.

QPS officers from stations including Crows Nest, Esk, Goombungee, Highfields, and Toowoomba spent the day testing their vehicles to gain a better understanding of the terrain and time required to reach the remote project location.

Toowoomba Region Deputy Mayor and Strategic Water Planning and Capital Delivery portfolio spokesperson Cr Rebecca Vonhoff said building a strong relationship between the CDSIP team and QPS is essential for being effective in any situation requiring a coordinated response.

“Connecting with police early is critical as plans progress for constructing the complex safety improvement project,” Cr Vonhoff said.

“The majority of the dam’s access roads are rough and are only suitable for 4WDs. One access road is also very steep.”

Ensuring all emergency services are familiar with the site enables faster and more efficient responses to emergency incidents.

“Being prepared for emergencies and having appropriately considered and robust response procedures are all part of ensuring worker safety, especially for larger, complex and remote projects,” Cr Vonhoff said.

“The project team will monitor road traffic to and from the dam. Staff working on the CDSIP will travel privately to Lake Cressbrook using public roads in the Toowoomba Region. These workers will then travel by boat to the dam wall. Heavy vehicles will bring equipment and materials to the dam wall using local roads in the Somerset jurisdiction.”

QPS officers were also shown where the future batch plant will be and where other large equipment and machinery will operate.

The CDSIP team is collaborating with the Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Fire Department, and LifeFlight to enable crews to test site access using their chosen equipment.
For more information about the project, visit Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement Project

Caption: Queensland Police officers with project representatives from the engineering and safety teams during a recent tour of Cressbrook Dam (top), and testing access roads, below.