Students from three Thames/Hauraki schools - Kopuarahi, Ngatea and Thames South - have been chosen as finalists in the Kopu Bridge School Video Competition.
The confirmed finalists are:
The winning school will receive a Panasonic high definition video camera valued at $1200, with MP3 players for the winning students. The winning video will be broadcast on TV Central's Mishmash kids show.
NZ Transport Agency Project Services Manager Bryce Carter said the NZTA organised the competition in response to enquiries from local schools wanting to be involved with the project.
"The students are extremely excited about this competition, which reflects the very high level of public interest in this project."
The finalists will produce a 3-minute TV news item about the new Kopu Bridge, with students acting as TV presenters and producers.
The video teams will work with staff from the NZTA to fine-tune their plans, and will have three months to make their videos. The three teams will spend one day filming on the construction site.
The winner will be announced in late September.
The video competition is a partnership between the NZTA, Brown's 100% Appliances in Thames and regional broadcaster TV Central. The competition was open to all schools in the Hauraki and Thames Coromandel Districts.
Construction of the $47m two-lane Kopu Bridge and approach roads was brought forward in 2009 as part of the Government's $500m Jobs and Growth Plan. It replaces the existing one-lane bridge build in 1928. Once completed, the new 580m-long bridge will reduce traveling times for all bridge users. It remains on target for completion in 2012.
