The NZ Transport Agency is advising work to replace the Horoera Bridge leading to the historic East Cape lighthouse will now begin on Monday, 7 August. The work was delayed last month following a dropout on East Coast Road which meant contractors were unable to access the site.
The section of East Cape Road from the bridge to the lighthouse will be closed on 7 August for four days while the new bridge is craned into place. Vehicles will be able to use the bridge from 9:00am on 11 August, and the project’s completion will be managed over the following three weeks with minimum inconvenience to traffic.
The $400,000 project replaces the current bailey bridge with a single-lane concrete bridge. It is the first in a $1.5 million package of three fully Crown-funded tourism-related roading projects originally announced in February at the release of the Tairāwhiti Economic Action Plan (He Huarahi Hei Whai Oranga).
The Horoera Bridge project is being delivered by Tairāwhiti Roads, a partnership between the NZ Transport Agency and Gisborne District Council. Gisborne company Ritchie Civil won the tender to build the bridge.
Tairawhiti Roads general manager Dave Hadfield said “The new bridge will support tourist vehicles such as buses and campervans, allowing a growing number of tourists to drive right to the foot of New Zealand’s most easterly lighthouse.”
It will also support High Productivity Motor Vehicles and boost the resilience of the route.
