Machinery has this morning moved on site at the Waitaki Bridges to begin setting up the site ready for work to start on Monday 8 April building the new bridges on State Highway 82 between Kurow and Hakataramea.
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) State Highway Manager Colin Knaggs says our contractors have this morning begun to set-up the staging area for onsite facilities. “This work will take about two weeks to complete and will be followed by the clearing of the southern abutment, the start of the earthworks and rock protection on the southern bank (Kurow side) of the Waitaki River.”
He says all building consents for the work have been received and the contractors are scheduled to begin piling for the first bridge on the southern bank of the river during the second week of May. The project will take about 18 months to complete.
The two ageing 132-year-old, single-lane wooden bridges that currently span the river have reached the end of their life and are being replaced by the NZTA with two new two-lane bridges. Earlier this month, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean performed the traditional first sod turning ceremony to signal the start of the project.
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.
Mr Knaggs says the new bridges are expected to open late 2014.
