Rural bridge works update

From cyclone repairs to guardrail upgrades and strengthening, works on bridges across the district continue as weather allows. 

In some cases this has meant bridges being reduced to one-lane or temporary closed with detours in place.

On Taihape Road there are three projects underway, and there is one at Waipunga Rd:

Ohiwia Bridge guardrails upgrade

ONE LANE FROM NOV 9 TO DEC 20, 2023

Ohiwia Bridge will be having its guardrails upgraded from November 9. This project was originally programmed to be constructed in April 2023, but was postponed in order to allow our contractors to focus on the cyclone response.

During the day the bridge will be down to one lane with stop/go traffic management in place, but will be reopened to two lanes at night unless it is unsafe to do so.

This work is expected to take until December 20 to complete, barring any unexpected delays.

Blacks Bridge 

Recently engineers abseiled the bridge to inspect the foundations and damage from the cyclone flooding. Gaining safe access is challenging with this job but the designers have been working closely with the contractors to find a solution to get access for people, plant and materials. The current proposal is to use a crane on-site with a man-cage, and works are expected to start in the next fortnight.  There will be further works required over the coming months as there are several parts of the bridge that need repair. 

It is hoped to restore the bridge to two lanes before Christmas.

Pukehamoamoa Bridge

Recent rains have continued to wash away some of the material on the edge of the carriageway, and a focus has been on minimising further damage to this bridge to avoid a full closure. Part of this is continuing to keep the road to one lane.

Temporary sheet piles have started to be installed along the road edge to prevent more damage occurring.

The designers and contractors have been working as quickly as possible to design a solution that provides resilience for future events – finding a permanent solution is ongoing, hoping to get to detailed design by the end of November 2023.

Construction is expected to commence late November/early December, with the aim to having both lanes open in January.

Swamp Cutting Bridge

This bridge was closed on October 10 after a large cavity was found under the road. Emergency repairs began immediately and the road reduced to one-lane to allow this to happen.

Over the recent long weekend, two lanes were temporarily reinstated for holiday traffic, but was reduced to a single lane again to allow the work to continue with the aim to have the road back to two lanes.

Following this, traffic will be impacted again for a short period to reseal the road. Additional works will be required over the following six months but are not expected to impact the live lanes.

Kaiwaka Bridge strengthening

Kaiwaka Bridge on Waipunga Rd will be temporarily closed from November 6 to November 15 to undertake work to increase its loading capacity to the full High Productivity Motor Vehicle (HPMV) standard.

During this time the bridge will be open to pedestrians only, but there will be detours for traffic:

• For residents south of Kaiwaka Bridge (including Turnbull Road), detour via Waipunga Road which exits to State Highway 5 (Eskdale Valley).

• For residents north of Kaiwaka Bridge, detour via Kaiwaka Road which exits to State Highway 2.

Temporary traffic controls will be in place during all times of construction and detours monitored daily during the temporary bridge closure. For safety, please keep clear of the work area. We understand that this may cause some inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding and co-operation in this matter.

This work is planned to be completed in early December.

Any questions or concerns, please contact:

• David Plowman - Engineer Bridge Asset Management, Hastings District Council;

Phone: 06 350 2167, Email - david.plowman@wsp.com

• James Paston - Construction Operations Manager, Downers NZ

Phone: +64272325946, Email - James.Paston@downer.co.nz

7 November 2023

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