A new bridge spanning the Waihopai River, replacing the original structure which was swept away in a 2021 storm, has been completed on time and below budget.
Members of the local community celebrated with Marlborough District Council Mayor, Nadine Taylor, councillors, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi representatives, Marlborough Roads staff and contractors yesterday afternoon at the new bridge to mark the occasion.
The new single lane structure is 110m long, 4.1m wide between guardrails and has seven 16m spans which tower nine metres above the river.
The project cost was approximately $4 million, including design and construction, road realignment, surfacing and drainage, geotechnical investigations, alignment design, land and consents – coming in $1.1 million under budget. The project was 95% funded through NZTA’s Financial Assistance Rate (FAR).
The local community were provided with a temporary Bailey bridge which restored access to the upper valley from September 2021.
Mayor Taylor said the completion of the project had future-proofed road access to and from the Waihopai Valley and greatly improved its resilience.
“This new structure is impressive and a vast improvement on the one we lost. It will be of benefit to all users and its completion marks a final return to normality for the community,” she said.
“The new road downstream of the bridge is also more resilient with it now higher up on the terrace to protect it from future flooding.”
NZTA Waka Kotahi Senior Project Manager, Andrew Adams said options for the new bridge location were confirmed in 2022 with consents, land purchase and geotechnical investigations concluded by mid-2023. The contract was awarded to Egypt Ltd, a Nelson-based bridge contractor with a yard in Havelock, in November 2023. Their designer, Thelins, completed the detailed bridge design by early 2024 allowing bridge construction to commence that April.
“The reinforced concrete bridge beams were precast in Nelson – each weighing 24 tonnes – and were delivered on low-loader and placed by crane from the riverbed. Egypt Ltd’s team stayed locally during the week to undertake the construction, only going home on weekends. It’s been a fantastic effort and a great result to have the bridge finished on schedule,” Mr Adams said.
The bridge was completed in December with finishing works on the 800m of road alignment to and from the bridge completed in early February. Removal of the temporary Bailey bridge and remnants of the old bridge has also been completed.
Mr Adams said the new bridge would be suitable for logging trucks with all drivers required to use the priority/give way system.
Mayor Taylor thanked the contractors and consultants who worked on the project – Egypt Ltd (designers), Aysons (surveyors), Thelin Construction (piles and precast bridge beams), Edridges (road works), Fulton Hogan (traffic management), TC Nichols (chip sealing), Blackmore Fencing and WSP (engineering consultancy and construction surveillance).
