Machinery on site to start $10.6m bridge construction

Preparations are under way to start building the $10.6 million He Ara Kotahi cycle and pedestrian bridge.

Contractors Concrete Structures has set up some of its gear on the Manawatu¯ River bank opposite Palmerston North’s Dittmer Drive, ready to carry out geotechnical trials to confirm the nature of the under-river material workers will be drilling through for the foundations for the piers.

Palmerston North City Council programme manager for the He Ara Kotahi project Rob Green said the section of shared pathway from the Fitzherbert Bridge to near the Turitea Stream had been closed to the public.

The preparatory bridge work would start today, with the first steps being to build a shingle causeway out to the location for the piers to provide access into the river channel for the machinery.

‘‘This initial phase is expected to take a week, though that’s dependent on the river level remaining low.

‘‘Investigative drilling will take a further week and then drilling for the bridge piles can begin,’’ Green said.

Activity on the city side of the bridge site would not start for another few weeks, apart from the possible creation of a ramp over the stopbank.

The ramp would serve vehicles for the bridge contractors, for the Powerco under-river cable project and Horizons’ erosion repairs on the Manawatu¯ Riverside shared pathway at the back of Victoria Esplanade.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford, of the Labour Party, will be visiting the bridge site tomorrow for the official sodturning ceremony marking the start of construction of the bridge.

The entire He Ara Kotahi project, including the bridge and shared pathway from the Fitzherbert Bridge to Linton, has attracted $3m from the Urban Cycleways Programme and $3.2m from the National Land Transport Fund.

The next step in the pathway project will be awarding tenders for downstream bridges across the Turitea Stream and another two waterways.

Completion is scheduled for April 2019.