He Ara Kotahi bridge all go
Plans are finally all go for building Palmerston North’s cycle and pedestrian bridge, but it is going to cost $3.7 million more than planned.
The bridge will span the Manawatu¯ River from Dittmer Drive near the Holiday Park across to Massey University.
City council general manager for City Networks Ray Swadel said the He Ara Kotahi bridge, including the shared pathway from the Fitzherbert Bridge to Linton, would cost $14.6m, $4.7m more than planned.
The 195-metre long, 4.2m wide bridge alone would cost $10.6m to build. Swadel said the New Zealand Transport Agency supported the project going ahead at the new price.
The project is getting $500,000 from Powerco and $3m from the transport agency’s Urban Cycleway Programme. The rest would be split 51/49 per cent between the agency and the council.
The council has awarded the bridge contract to Concrete Structures (NZ) Ltd from Rotorua.
During the tender process the company proposed some modifications to the original design that would make it $1.5m cheaper.
Swadel said the changes involved slight modifications to the steel supports for the bridge deck and to the foundations in the river bed, but would not change the look or longevity of the bridge.
He said the council had delayed announcing the awarding of the tender until it was confident Concrete Structures was well advanced in the final design process.
Work on site will begin on January 8, when two weeks of drilling will be carried out, subject to consent from Horizons Regional Council, to confirm the foundation design. Building was expected to start in the second half of February, on the Massey side of the river.
Swadel said the council was delighted the project would finally go ahead.
The first section of the companion part of He Ara Kotahi, the shared pathway, would be closed at times during the bridge construction for safety reasons.
Tenders would be called soon for the extension of the pathway from the Turitea Stream to the Kahuterawa Stream.
Progress was also being made in finalising the design of the remaining pathway sections to Bells Rd at Linton, including a bridge across the Kahuterawa Stream, and the link to Massey and the Fitzherbert Science Centres, before those tenders could be called.
The whole project is expected to be finished by April, 2019.