Coromandel lifeline
New State Highway 25a Bridge opens to traffic
By writing, State Highway 25A between Ko¯pu¯ and Hikuai will have reopened to traffic in time for Christmas and a full three months earlier than anticipated.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, along with Transport Minister Simeon Brown visited the site on Friday, December 15, and Luxon said there were a lot of good lessons in this project on how government can speed up consenting.
“This is a great example of what we want to do across the country.
“A big part of it is looking at working 24/7 more. We’ve got all the talent and smarts to do it so we need to look at how we can speed things up and get things done. There’s a lot of learning out of the project.”
The bridge will reconnect the road after a section of the highway was washed away after late January’s major storm events.
Thames-coromandel District mayor Len Salt said he was glad to host Luxon and Transport Minister Simeon Brown at the bridge and showcase what can be done.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do ahead of us but I’m feeling encouraged that we’re on the right path.
“We’re all so happy to have reached this part of the journey. It’s been a tough year on so many levels for so many people.
“Who would’ve thought that a bridge would get such an emotional response from the community it affects. This isn’t about infrastructure. This is about how it affects the community.”
The news brings a welcome economic boost to the beleaguered Coromandel Peninsula, an area heavily reliant on tourism, which has suffered severe economic downturn on the back of last summer’s cyclones and bad weather.
Construction began in June after the Government committed to fund New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi an initial cost estimate of $30 million-$40 million in May, which was revised to be closer to $50 million.
Transport Minister at the time Michael Wood said the money for the project would come from the Government’s $250m top-up to the National Land Transport Programme fund, set up to support the recovery. NZTA regional manager Jo Wilton said getting traffic across as soon as possible had always been the aim. “We know how difficult the highway closure has been on local families, businesses, schools and communities and its impact on visitors to the region. That’s why, along with our builders, Mcconnell Dowell and Fulton Hogan J.V., we’ve pulled out all the stops to deliver the fastest and most resilient solution for the Coromandel.
“Getting it open in less than seven months is a huge achievement given that a bridge of this type normally takes 12 to 14 months to construct.
“We’ve built the bridge in record time by accelerating our work programme, with teams working 24-hour shifts both onsite and offsite at Eastbridge in Napier, where the steel girders were manufactured.
“In addition, we used a bridge design we already had and repurposed steel plates that had been purchased for the Minden Bridge on Tauranga’s Takitimu North Link project, meaning we didn’t have a lengthy wait for steel to come in from overseas.”