Work will begin tomorrow (Wednesday 12 June) driving the second pile for the first of the two new Waitaki Bridges at Kurow.
The contractors are scheduled to finish the first abutment pile today and begin setting-up tomorrow to drive the next pile, which is in the river flow, says the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Project Manager Steve Proud.
“Work is progressing well at the site and is on schedule. We should have half the piles driven for the smaller of the two bridges on the Kurow side of the river by early July and all four piles by mid-September.”
Two new two-lane bridges are being built across the river on State Highway 82, between Kurow and Hakataramea, by the NZTA to replace the two ageing 132-year-old, single-lane wooden bridges, which have reached the end of their life.
Each of the piles is 1800mm in diameter and being driven to a depth of about 22 metres.
Piling will begin mid-September for the 11 piles under the second bridge, on the Hakataramea side of the river. This work is expected to be completed mid-March next year.
The new $20.1 million bridges are part of the NZTA’s $1 billion programme of investment in Canterbury’s transport network from 2012 to 2015.
The new bridges are scheduled to open late in 2014.
