Bridge work back on schedule
The Manawatu¯ River Bridge project near Foxton is on track to meet its original deadline, despite a series of delays.
The project is set to replace both the Manawatu¯ River Bridge and the nearby Whirokino Trestle Bridge on State Highway 1 and bring them in line with modern safety standards.
This means vehicles weighing more than 44 tonnes will no longer have to go on a 14-kilometre detour.
The construction project started in mid-2017 and was expected to cost $70,000 and take almost three years. However, in the past year construction has faced several delays, including the discovery of human remains at the site and workers being flooded out after a storm.
NZ Transport Agency regional systems manager Ross l’anson said despite the delays the project was back on track.
In May, ko¯iwi – old human remains, thought to be Ma¯ ori – were found about 800 metres from the river during digging on a farm to provide sand for the site. Work was shut down while the find was examined, reburied and blessed.
And in June, extra staff were recruited to help make up for the two-week delay caused by the month’s storms and flooding.
The extra efforts had successfully got the project back on schedule and it was still expected to be finished in early 2020, l’anson said.
All 36 giant concrete piles that will hold up the Manawatu¯ River Bridge have been delivered and driven into place parallel to the current bridge.
And workers were installing bridge beams for the Trestle Bridge. All up, there are 85 beams to be put in place – each is 35 metres long and weighs 66 tonnes.
The earthworks for the new embankments were also making good progress, l’anson said.
Dump trucks were carting material across the river over a temporary staging bridge and by the time they were done, 450,000 cubic metres of sand would have been moved to the site.