Mangaweka Bridge progress

Manawatu and Rangitikei District Councils are continuing to investigate options for the replacement of the Mangaweka Bridge.

Since it was discovered that the bridge has significantly deteriorated, both Councils together have held a public meeting to hear what the community needed and how the bridge holds importance as part of the business and social life of the area.

Tim Eldridge from GHD consulting engineers thanked the public for their time and enthusiasm and said the meetings provided essential local knowledge and context for the bridge.

Building on from the public meeting, two workshops have been held with stakeholders from the community, local businesses and the Councils. The workshops looked at all the possible options- from retaining the existing bridge, strengthening it, building a new one beside the existing one as well as the idea of a completely new bridge in a different location. From these workshops three options were short-listed that could see a new bridge built adjacent to the existing one with the road realigned to provide better access for larger vehicles.

These options will now go forward into a business case that will look at the costs, benefits and challenges for each option before a single preferred option is selected and put forward for funding from New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

Manawatu District Council project lead Jim Mestyanek is pleased with the progress and appreciates the assistance from the community and businesses to get these options established. He said this was a complicated process and that work is progressing as quickly as it can.

“Getting this part of the process right means that when we seek funding we know that the facts and figures support the request, and that what we are asking for is what is needed.”