FLOODING at a West Wodonga quarry has prompted concerns for a powerline and gas pipe in the area.
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A section of sand at the quarry north of Edwards Road and west of Sheathers Road collapsed on Thursday.
SES crews, workers from power company AusNet and North East Catchment Management Authority representatives visited the site to assess the situation.
SES spokesman Brian Wright said a gas pipe and major electricity line were in the area and rising water was a risk to that infrastructure.
“Because it’s an erosion situation, a bit like a sandcastle, we’re not sure what impact it’s going to have on their integrity,” Mr Wright said.
There are concerns for the powerlines centred on the footings of transmission towers on the north fringe of the quarry.
However, AusNet spokesman Hugo Armstrong played down the prospect of any damage resulting in a widespread electricity shutdown.
“Even if for safety reasons we had to turn off the power that runs through those towers it doesn’t mean Wodonga would go black,” Mr Armstrong said.
“We can at short notice reroute the power that goes through there. It is one of the main interconnections between NSW and Victoria, but it’s not the only source of supply.”
Mr Wright said the area of the quarry breached was expected to take one to three days to fill with water rising more slowly than first expected.
He said families living on the already isolated Goynes Road, north of the quarry, had left on Thursday after SES advice and a factory was directed to be evacuated.
Roadblocks, which were manned by Wodonga Council staff, were set up at the intersection of Sheathers Road and Moloney Drive in the east and at the Edwards Rd-Old Barnawartha Road junction in the west on Thursday afternoon.
Wodonga Quarries manager Brad Golding initially told The Border Mail he knew nothing about the collapse, despite the SES having issued a media release.
Pressed further he said: “I can’t comment.”
Mr Wright said floodlights would be in place overnight Thursday as the situation was monitored.
Earlier SES crews had flown over the site in a helicopter to assess the impact of waters fanning out from the Murray River which runs about two kilometres north of the quarry.
Police also visited the area on Thursday.
