Bridge Demolition SWMS
Demolition of road or rail bridges, overpasses. Engineered sequenced demolition, traffic / rail closures, crane support of structural members, cut-and-lift of beams, deck breakup, pier demolition.
SWMS variants reference your state’s WHS legislation. Instant download after payment.
Bridge demolition is one of the highest-consequence activities in Australian civil construction, combining structural collapse risk, working at height over live traffic or rail corridors, heavy crane lifts of partially severed structural members, and exposure to lead-based paint and silica dust from deck breakup. Each sequence — from initial deck saw-cutting, through beam severance and crane-supported lift-out, to pier felling — alters the load path of the remaining structure and can trigger progressive collapse if the engineered demolition sequence is not followed precisely. Under WHS Regulation 2025 this work meets multiple Schedule 1 High Risk Construction Work triggers, including structural alteration that could cause collapse, work at height above two metres, work near road and rail corridors, and work involving demolition of load-bearing elements. A Safe Work Method Statement is mandatory before any work commences, must be prepared in consultation with workers, kept on site for the duration of the work, and retained for at least two years (or until after any notifiable incident).
Hazards identified
7 hazards covered, sorted by priority.
Catastrophic fatal crush injuries to ground crew and operators; total loss of plant; corridor closure and prosecution under WHS Act s31
Crane tip-over, dropped load fatality, damage to adjacent infrastructure and reportable notifiable incident
Fatal fall greater than two metres onto roadway, rail ballast or watercourse below
Third-party fatalities, train derailment, multi-agency investigation and indefinite project shutdown
Accelerated silicosis, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with long-latency workers' compensation liability
Lead absorption exceeding blood-lead removal thresholds under WHS Regulation 2025 Part 7.2 requiring worker removal
Mass-casualty vehicle strike of workers and plant; criminal negligence exposure for the principal contractor
Control measures
Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.
- 1Elimination — Where feasible, eliminate in-situ demolition by full span lift-out using tandem cranes during absolute road or rail possession, removing workers from beneath suspended loads.
- 2Elimination — Remove all non-essential personnel from the demolition exclusion zone established by the demolition engineer; only the lift crew and spotters remain within the drop radius.
- 3Substitution — Substitute oxy-cutting of lead-painted steel with mechanical shearing or cold-cut diamond wire sawing to eliminate lead fume generation at source.
- 4Substitution — Replace dry concrete cutting with wet-cut diamond blade saws and hydraulic crunchers to suppress respirable crystalline silica below the 0.05 mg/m³ workplace exposure standard.
- 5Engineering — Implement the engineered demolition sequence stamped by a chartered structural engineer (RPEQ or equivalent), with temporary propping and load-path verification at each hold-point before progression.
- 6Engineering — Install perimeter scaffold with debris netting, catch decks beneath the work zone, and hard barriers protecting live traffic lanes in accordance with AS/NZS 1576 and AS 4687.
- 7Administrative — Conduct daily pre-start SWMS sign-on, exclusion zone briefing, lift study review, and confirm road/rail possession authority is in force before any cutting commences.
- 8Administrative — Operate under an approved Traffic Management Plan and Rail Protection Officer (RPO) supervision with positive communication protocols and emergency stop authority for all rail-adjacent work.
- 9PPE — Mandatory hard hat to AS/NZS 1801, P2 respirators (or PAPR for lead/silica tasks above action level) to AS/NZS 1716, hi-vis to AS/NZS 4602.1, and cut-resistant gloves.
- 10PPE — Twin-lanyard fall arrest harness to AS/NZS 1891.1 anchored to engineered anchor points for all deck-edge work, with rescue plan and trauma straps available on site.
Applicable Codes of Practice
Defines the demolition plan, engineering survey, sequence approval and exclusion zone duties that the SWMS must operationalise on site.
Sets the mandatory engineering survey, written demolition plan, and sequence requirements for bridge and load-bearing structure removal.
Triggers the High Risk Construction Work SWMS duty under WHS Reg 2025 s291–299 for structural alteration, height and corridor work.
Governs lift studies, dual-crane tandem lift planning, and dogman/rigger competency for severed beam extraction lifts on the project.
High-Risk Construction Work triggered
Severance and removal of bridge girders, deck slabs and piers are by definition demolition of primary load-bearing elements of a structure.
Deck-level and pier-cap work routinely exceeds two metres above the carriageway, rail ballast or watercourse beneath the bridge.
Bridges span active road or rail corridors and demolition is performed adjacent to or directly above live traffic during staged possessions.
The PCBU must prepare the SWMS in consultation with workers and HSRs before work starts, keep it accessible on site, and retain it for at least two years after any notifiable incident. Penalties for non-compliance are substantial and indexed; the current maximum follows the prevailing WHS schedule.
Who this is for
- →Principal contractors delivering state road and rail bridge replacement programs
- →Licensed demolition contractors holding DE class demolition permits
- →Civil project managers and site supervisors coordinating possessions
- →WHS managers auditing Tier 1 infrastructure demolition packages
What you receive
- ✓Editable DOCX template — Microsoft Word compatible
- ✓State-specific WHS legislation schedule (NSW/VIC/QLD/SA/WA/TAS/NT/ACT)
- ✓Hazard register with risk ratings + hierarchy-of-control mapping
- ✓Worker sign-on register, pre-start checklist, and incident escalation flow
Worked example
On a regional overpass replacement project, the demolition supervisor opens the morning pre-start brief by tabling the Bridge Demolition SWMS alongside the engineered sequence drawings and the approved Traffic Management Plan. The crew is about to sever and lift Beam 3 of 6 during a four-hour highway possession. Walking through the SWMS hazard register, the supervisor confirms with the dogman that the lift study weight matches the as-built beam plus residual deck, and that the tandem crane configuration is within 75 percent of rated capacity per AS 2550.1. A worker raises that the wet-cut saw water supply is intermittent — the supervisor pauses sign-on, references the silica control in the SWMS, and arranges a second IBC of suppression water before allowing work to proceed. All workers sign the SWMS register, including two new traffic controllers who are walked through the exclusion zone diagram and the emergency stop radio protocol with the Rail Protection Officer. Mid-task, a structural engineer's hold-point inspection identifies unexpected reinforcement continuity; the supervisor stops work, annotates the SWMS as a field amendment, briefs the crew on the revised cut location, and re-signs the document before the lift proceeds. The amended SWMS is retained in the project records for the statutory minimum period.
Related legislation
- WHS Act 2011 (model)
- WHS Regulation 2025
- Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces CoP