The replacement of the Horoera Bridge on East Cape Road is progressing well despite a delay caused when a dropout on the road meant contractors were unable to access the site.
The section of East Cape Road from the bridge to the historic East Cape lighthouse was closed for five days while the new bridge was craned into place. The new bridge reopened to traffic on Friday 11 August and the project’s completion will be managed over the next 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.
Tairāwhiti Roads general manager Dave Hadfield said “The new concrete bridge supports 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.”
