158km bridge detour means ‘a life juggle’
A detour of up to 158km for at least 10 days is needed to do must-do bridge repairs on the SH25 Hikuai River Bridge south of Tairua.
Depending on origin and destination, some drivers would need to detour from the Kopu-hikuai intersection all the way up the western Coromandel Peninsula via Thames, Coromandel Town and Whitianga to reach Tairua.
That’s the equivalent of driving from Auckland to Whangarei each time.
More than 4100 vehicles cross it daily, with 14.5 per cent of those heavy vehicles.
Horizon Design and Construction company owner Mark Wyper and his family of five children live in Hikuai, south of the Hikuai bridge, and Mark usually works in Tairua, where three of his children attend Tairua School.
His daily round-trip journey would be more than 300km/day — and he and his wife Rachel would normally do the 10-minute trip to Tairua several times a day.
“It would mean a life juggle,” he said.
“It would mean we’d have to pull our kids out of school and reassess for however long for that bridge work because we run a building crew. You could possibly organise something where you’d park on the other side and leave the car with tools, and it would be risky.
“We do back and forth trips to Tairua every day, at least two or three times. That would be a gamechanger.”
Sophie Owston is an osteopath who divides her clinical practice between Whangamata and Tairua, like others in Tairua. She lives in Tairua and two of her children attend Whangamata Area School, like many of the town’s teenagers.
“I can’t expect patients to come to me, people won’t do the round trip to come to me,” she said.
The cost of petrol would be too much, she said.
“For me or the patients. I just wouldn’t be able to go to Whangamata or I’d have to stay over.”
A report obtained by the HC Post under the Official Information Act shows repairs are critical and high priority.
The barrier and truss design on the single lane Hikuai River bridge did not comply with current requirements for collision loads.
The road closures were based on time to complete all three options for repairs, assuming daytime working only, with consultants recommending a review of construction methods because of the impact on road users.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said the last general inspection report for Hikuai SST bridge was completed in October 2019 and all critical maintenance work identified in the report had already been carried out.
There was no timeframe yet for any temporary closures and issues such as emergency vehicle access, school routes and ways to minimise disruption to motorists would be part of the planning and communication.
“We’re pretty aware of the [impact] for the Coromandel. A lot of thought goes into whether a road closure needs to happen - sometimes it does because if you can close the road you might get the work done in half the time rather than dragging it out for weeks. We would look at nights or outside peak times,” said NZTA Waikato System Manager Cara Lauder.
She said the organisation was still confirming exactly what work was needed and therefore could not provide a timeframe.
The report said deck surfacing is in poor repair, with engineers advising NZTA against a “do nothing” option.
Two timber deck replacement options were given, along with fixing the existing deck, which was not recommended.
Barriers leading to the bridge,
which are designed to protect the truss from wayward vehicles, also needed upgrades.
The recommended option - option 3 - would cost $429,000 and require the shortest road closure, 15 days as opposed to 20 for option 2.
The report said shorter local routes were available but were unlikely to be suitable for all vehicles.
Lobbying had intensified over the safety risks of the bridge, the Pepe Bridge in Tairua and other one-lane bridges along State Highway 25 on the Coromandel Peninsula’s eastern seaboard.
Queues of up to 10km form during peak season and local politicians were among those raising concerns over the one-lane Graham’s Creek Bridge at the north end of Tairua, Waiwawa Bridge in Coroglen, the Pepe Stream Bridge and Hikuai River Bridge on SH25.
NZTA said the organisation was actively monitoring the condition of all bridges and work had to be prioritised against not only the Waikato but the whole of New Zealand.
However, safety was a priority.
“We would leave none of the bridges in an unsafe state,” said Lauder.
“Safety is the utmost priority and if [work] was needed for safety, we would make it happen. We can understand the community’s frustrations, particularly around [traffic delays at] New Year’s. We’re working through a process for them but, safety-wise, people don’t have to worry.”
A recent report on the Waiwawa Bridge at Coroglen reported cracks and recommended close-up inspection of the deck and beams underneath, with suggestions to follow.
Consultants Beca agreed with Waka Kotahi to monitor the 61m long bridge every two months.
The Tairua Residents and Ratepayers Association notified Transport Minister Phil Twyford, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter and Finance Minister Grant Robertson to see for themselves the condition of the four
Coromandel
SH25 one-lane bridges in and around the town on SH25.
They were a main route used by communities to access Tairua, Coroglen, Whitianga, Wharekaho, Cooks Beach, Hahei and Hot Water Beach.
The TRRA and Anne Stewart-ball
- a local politician - are among those lobbying, saying the Pepe Inlet bridge needed urgent work or replacement before the timeframe indicated.
The association had organised a stakeholders meeting in April.
TRRA president Jean Mccann and Stewart-ball, a resident of Tairua, wrote to NZTA to say there was a serious risk of incident or accident due to the Pepe bridge condition. Since then the sides of the bridge have been partially replaced.
“We need action rather than talkfests,” Stewart-ball said in the letter.
“The last 30 years has seen increased traffic to this area of the Coromandel Peninsula, with increased population, holiday baches, international and domestic tourism. There are increases in trucking transport to and through this area to other communities for forestry, horticulture, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, with goods and services provision to the area including petrol, diesel and LPG.”
A report on the Hikuai River Bridge estimated 14.5 per cent of vehicles using the bridge - which links the Kopu-hikuai Rd and Whangamata with townships on the eastern Coromandel coast including Tairua were heavy vehicles.
A September 2018 NZTA/BECA Report on the Pepe Stream Bridge indicated urgent repairs were needed then.
“There have been letters from ratepayer groups, newspaper articles, reports and photos of the deterioration presented to NZTA and local politicians.”
The SH25 Grahams Stream Bridge had $20,600 in repairs recommended after its last inspection.
We do back and forth trips to Tairua every day, at least two or three times. That would be a gamechanger. Mark Wyper