Audley Weir closures report for 2022.
Latest Status
Audley Weir is currently OPEN. (last updated 2022-July-23)
For yearly closure statistics refer to table below.
Closure Report (2022-July-22 to 2022-July-23)
Audley Weir has had it’s fifteenth flooding event for 2022 just over a day since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Friday 22 July at 12:44pm.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Saturday 23 July at 5:26am for a total closure time of 17 hours.
Closure Report (2022-July-20 to 2022-July-21)
Audley Weir has had it’s fourteenth flooding event for 2022 just over a week since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Wednesday 20 July at 6:04pm.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Thursday 21 July at 3:08pm for a total closure time of 21 hours.
Closure Report (2022-July-10 to 2022-July-11)
Audley Weir has had it’s thirteenth flooding event for 2022 just a couple of days since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Sunday 10 July at 8:35am.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Monday 11 July at 1:12pm for a total closure time of 29 hours.
Closure Report (2022-July-02 to 2022-July-07)
After a drier than normal month of June the rains have come back in full force in July. As a result Audley Weir has had it’s 12th flooding event for 2022 which is more than a month since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Saturday 2 July at 12:08pm.
Several days on the car park was flooded and the flood warning sign was almost submerged. The weir officially reopened to traffic on Thursday 7 July at 5:52pm for a total closure time of 126 hours.
Closure Report (2022-May-23 to 2022-May-25)
Audley Weir has had it’s eleventh flooding event for 2022 just over a day since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Monday 23 May 12:23am.
The SES has expressed it’s frustration at drivers attempting to cross the weir in recent days resulting in a number of stranded cars. The SES was called to respond to these strandings to ensure the safety of the occupants. The SES also noted:
While it may seem that the water levels are shallow this is deceptive. Changes in car design to improve fuel efficiency have made modern cars extremely buoyant, with smaller cars able to start floating in as little as 15cm of water (the height of an average pen).
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Wednesday 25 May at 10:24am for a total closure time of 58 hours.
Closure Report (2022-May-21)
Audley Weir has had it’s tenth flooding event for 2022 just over a week since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Saturday 21 May 10:08am.
Debris from the flood gates impeded water flow triggering the flooding. Once the debris was cleared the flooding cleared. A car attempted to cross the weir and stalled part way but was able to be towed away.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on the same day at 7:36pm for a total closure time of almost 9.5 hours.
Closure Report (2022-May-12)
Audley Weir has had it’s ninth flooding event for 2022 just over two weeks since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Thursday 12 May at 5:31am.
Signs were not up and a car attempted to cross the weir but stalled part way. The car was towed away several hours later.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Friday 13 May at 1:07pm for a total closure time of 31 hours.
Closure Report (2022-April-25)
Audley Weir has had it’s eighth flooding event for 2022 just over two weeks since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Monday 25 April at 1:01pm.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on the same day at 8:45pm for a total closure time of almost 8 hours.
Closure Report (2022-April-10)
Audley Weir has had it’s seventh flooding event for 2022 less than a week since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Wednesday 6 April at 6:42pm.
Residents complained road signage over the weekend incorrectly indicated the road was open.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Sunday 10 April at 11:03pm for a total closure time of 100 hours which is the second longest closure for the year so far.
Closure Report (2022-March-29)
Audley Weir has had it’s sixth flooding event for 2022 just over 12 hours since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Tuesday 29 March at 11:07am.
Road was clear of water from late afternoon of Wednesday 30 March but flooded again overnight.
The weir officially reopened to traffic on Friday 1 April at 11:42pm for a total closure time of almost 85 hours.
Closure Report (2022-March-25)
Audley Weir has had it’s fifth flooding event for 2022 which is just under a week since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Friday 25 March at 2:04pm.
The weir was clear of water and crossable by mid day but officially reopened to traffic on Monday 28 March at 9:48pm for a total closure time of almost 104 hours.
Closure Report (2022-March-20)
Audley Weir has had it’s fourth flooding event for 2022 which is just over a week since it last flooded. Officially the weir closed on Saturday 19 March at 9:26am.
Water ran over the road for most of the day but slowly paused overnight until only still water remained over it in the morning. Once local debris was moved from the flood gates and drain plugs the remaining water cleared.
The weir was clear of water and crossable by mid morning but officially reopened to traffic on Sunday 20 March at 12:18pm for a total closure time of almost 27 hours.
February/March 2022 Closures Report
Closure Start
Audley Weir has had it’s third flooding event for 2022 which is just over a month since it last flooded in January 2022. Officially the weir closed on Tuesday 22 February at 3:11pm though water had been over the road as early as 2:30pm. A police car was on the scene at 2:40pm.
Canoes from the nearby Audley Boatshed were spotted floating over the weir heading downstream along the Hacking River. While heavy rains were the trigger for the flooding it was accelerated by the weir boards being left in place impacting the flow through of water. The lack of weir board management has been a concern of the management of the weir.
The ongoing issues with the management of Audley Weir has sparked a petition for authorities to address them. Over 500 people have already signed the petition.
Heavy Rain Impact
The weir remained closed for the next two weeks as a result of the persistence of heavy rains along with the occurrence of two east coast low weather events.
Commuters also had to deal with a series of large potholes which were created by the continuous heavy rains.
Further complicating commuting to Bundeena was a land slip on the alternate road McKell Ave which is accessed via the Royal National Park Waterfall entrance. This resulted in the closure of the road for a day which required residents to have to commute via Otford which added 30 minutes to the normal travel time.
McKell Ave was eventually reopened with only single lane access being managed initially by traffic controllers which were eventually replaced by temporary traffic lights. Initial estimates are the damaged lane may take several weeks or even months to be repaired.
Rain stops but weir still closed
After two weeks into the closure period there had been a break in the rain. While the roads had dried out Audley Weir was still closed. The run off of excess water had been slowed by both the tree debris blocking the water flow gates along with the weir boards which are still in place.
The weir reopening was further delayed due to slow updates to road signage as well as for notifications on the NSW Live Traffic website.
Weir Reopens
The weir officially reopened on Saturday 12 March at 10:01am making the total closure time almost 18 days which is the longest in over 10 years.
January 2022 Closures Report
Audley Weir has had it’s first flooding event for 2022 which is less than a month since it last flooded in December 2021. A notable police presence was at the weir with two police vehicles parked in front of the weir to deter drivers contemplating driving across it. Officially the weir closed on Saturday 8 January at 10:08am and reopened the same day at 3:21pm.
With heavy rainfall only five days on, the weir closed for the second time in the year. Closure started on Thursday 13 January at 5:14am. It reopened the next day at 8:10pm. Initially, road signs indicated the closure but some Bundeena residents noted the signage later in the day at Sir Bertram Stevens Drive did not display closure causing unnecessary drives via the regular route.
Audley Weir Closures 2022
| Start Date | Start Time | End Date | End Time | Hours Closed | Days Closed |
| 2022-07-22 | 12:44 | 2022-07-23 | 5;26 | 16.7 | 0.7 |
| 2022-07-20 | 18:04 | 2022-07-21 | 15:08 | 21 | 0.9 |
| 2022-07-10 | 08:35 | 2022-07-11 | 13:12 | 28.6 | 1.2 |
| 2022-07-02 | 12:08 | 2022-07-07 | 17:52 | 125.8 | 5.2 |
| 2022-05-23 | 00:23 | 2022-05-25 | 10:24 | 58 | 2.4 |
| 2022-05-21 | 10:08 | 2022-05-21 | 19:36 | 9.5 | 0.4 |
| 2022-05-12 | 05:31 | 2022-05-13 | 13:07 | 31.5 | 1.3 |
| 2022-04-25 | 13:03 | 2022-04-25 | 20:45 | 7.8 | 0.3 |
| 2022-04-06 | 18:42 | 2022-04-10 | 23:03 | 100.3 | 4.2 |
| 2022-03-29 | 11:07 | 2022-04-01 | 23:42 | 85.5 | 3.5 |
| 2022-03-25 | 14:04 | 2022-03-28 | 21:48 | 79.7 | 3.3 |
| 2022-03-19 | 09:26 | 2022-03-20 | 12:18 | 27 | 1.1 |
| 2022-02-22 | 15:11 | 2022-03-12 | 10:01 | 426.8 | 17.8 |
| 2022-01-13 | 05:14 | 2022-01-14 | 20:10 | 39 | 1.6 |
| 2022-01-08 | 10:08 | 2022-01-08 | 15:21 | 5.3 | 0.2 |
| Total Hours/Days | 1061.4 | 44.2 | |||
| Number of Closures | 15 |
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