Extra long loads making their way to Kaikoura
Large trucks have hit the alternate highway to deliver more than 100 bridge beams for the South Island’s new-look coastal highway.
The trucks, measuring 28 metres long, will deliver 140 beams from around the country to construct bridges on the quake-damaged State Highway 1.
The first delivery of beams yesterday headed to Irongate, north of Mangamaunu, where a team of 50 people are working on an 80-metre bridge.
The bridge is being built in conjunction with more than 500 metres of seawall to stop high swells from washing away the new road and rail corridor.
The NZ Transport Agency has warned drivers to be patient as the trucks travel through the Lewis Pass and the Kaikoura inland road.
North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery journey manager Tresca Forrester said several bridges needed to be built for the road to reopen by Christmas.
She urged drivers to be cautious around the extra-long loads.
‘‘From Rotorua, the beams will come across to Picton and travel down through the alternate Picton to Christchurch highway via the Lewis Pass before heading north up the inland road to Kaikoura,’’ Forrester said.
‘‘Some minor delays can be expected due to the length of the load and the slow and winding nature of parts of the Lewis Pass route and the Kaikoura inland road.’’
Road crews last week created construction access all along the coastal route for the first time since the earthquake.
From September, the trucks carrying the beams would be able to head south from Blenheim along a construction access route on SH1.
‘‘This will help limit the impact on the Lewis Pass alternate route and Kaikoura’s inland road,’’ Forrester said.
The bridge beams would be delivered from several different suppliers and locations in both the South and North islands.
As well as the Irongate bridge, Bridge 908 south of Ward and three ‘‘debris- flow’’ bridges would be constructed.
A NZTA spokeswoman said rail was considered for transporting the beams, but that could not take place until the Main North Line opened for freight.
‘‘A special turntable would also need to be designed and built which would allow for the movement of each beam as the train goes around a bend,’’ she said.
The ‘‘debris-flow’’ bridges would sit at road level with a channel underneath so hillside debris could flow underneath and be cleared by machinery without blocking the road, the spokeswoman said.
The Irongate bridge workers were halfway through excavating the bluff to road level.
Construction was now ready to start on the bridge columns and the pier heads.
The rock bluff above the rail tunnel had been dug out to create a slope where the road and bridge connection would be built.
About two kilometres of seawall would be built north of Kaikoura from more than 7000 blocks weighing 5 tonnes each.