STEEL barriers said to cost $100,000 have not stopped boys and girls from jumping off the Union Bridge.
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NSW Roads and Maritime Services will undertake emergency works to try and stop it completely.
A group of teenage boys, who would not give their names, said yesterday they started slipping through the barriers just days after they were put up in mid-December.
The boys are among the many who have run along the Albury-bound lanes leading from the Lincoln Causeway, slipped through a small gap between the bridge and the barriers and on to one of the pillars below before jumping into the Murray River.
Click on the video below to see teenage boys slipping under the Union Bridge barrier and leaping into the Murray River. (iPhone users go to the Video tab in Menu.)
“It’s a bit of fun,” one said.
“Instead of wasting money on a bridge that we can get through anyway, they should have done something that the youth could enjoy — make a safe spot for us to jump from.”
RMS personnel inspected the gap between the bridge and the barrier yesterday morning after they were contacted by The Border Mail.
“RMS will carry out emergency work in the coming days to cover the gap to ensure safety,” a spokeswoman said.
“Traffic controllers and electronic message signs will be in place to direct motorists while work is completed.”
Member for Albury Greg Aplin said the jumping was “unbelievable” and “the height of stupidity”.
“The number of warnings in all forms of the media, there was a drowning last week and the message still doesn’t get through to some people,” he said.
“They’re clearly putting their life at risk.
“If they’re caught they should be severely counselled and if they’re injured it’s clearly a case of them putting themselves in danger.”
Inspector David Cottee said anyone caught jumping can cop a $690 on-the-spot fine.
“These young people are putting themselves at risk,” he said.
The boys, standing on the Albury side of the bridge in between jumps when speaking to The Border Mail, were well aware they could be fined and pointed out a car they believed was an undercover police vehicle that drove past.
One said he only started jumping last week.
“It’s fun and I didn’t do it because of peer pressure or anything,” he said.