Flood resilience planning for Queensland’s primary freight corridor

Background

The Bruce Highway is Queensland’s major north-south corridor, stretching over 1,700 kilometres from Brisbane to Cairns and supporting more than half of the state’s population. It plays a critical role in connecting inland agricultural and resource regions to 11 coastal ports, while also serving as a key tourism route and lifeline for remote communities.

Historically, flooding has caused significant disruptions along the highway, with closures lasting up to two weeks. These events isolate northern communities, sever supply chains, and hinder regional economic development. To address this, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) commissioned the Bruce Highway Link Flood Study — the largest of its kind globally — to assess the highway’s flood reliability and guide future investment.

Working with AECOM and HARC, the study applied continuous simulation hydrology to analyse the frequency and duration of simultaneous road closures across the entire corridor. The outcomes included a comprehensive reliability assessment, the establishment of a new Flood Vision Standard, and a prioritised program of flood upgrade projects. The new standard targets a tenfold reduction in closure time, setting a consistent benchmark for flood resilience across the network.

Our Role

NineSquared was engaged to support the economic justification and prioritisation of flood upgrade projects identified through the study. By applying a network-wide economic lens, NineSquared helped TMR evaluate the broader benefits of improving flood reliability — particularly in cases where individual upgrades may have been difficult to justify in isolation.

Our work enabled TMR to adopt a holistic investment approach, ensuring that flood resilience upgrades were not only technically sound but also economically defensible. This methodology strengthened the case for critical upgrades and supported long-term planning for a more reliable and connected transport network.

The study’s outcomes have equipped TMR with a robust framework for prioritising flood investments, enhancing the resilience of the Bruce Highway and the communities that depend on it.