The Waikare Gorge project includes a 4km realignment and a new 160m bridge across the Waikare Gorge on SH2 at Putorino (north of Napier). The project is part of a series of roading improvements on the East Coast to increase safety, resilience, and access for communities in the north of the region.
The Waikare Gorge is a key point on the journey on State Highway 2 (SH2) between Napier and Ōpōtiki. The Waikare Gorge realignment project is an important project to make the state highway safer and less likely to suffer closures.
After Cyclone Gabrielle, the old bridge spanning the gorge was destroyed, severing connection between Wairoa and Napier. After three months, a temporary Bailey bridge was installed while work on the long-term realignment project continues.
A major milestone was reached in March 2024 with submissions closing on the publicly notified resource consent application. The councils will consider submissions and inform us of their decisions.
We are currently preparing for construction with geotechnical investigations, ecological surveys and detailed design underway.
Once consents, approvals and construction funding are approved, a construction start date will be announced. Construction is currently expected to take at least 3 years.
The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) alliance will be delivering the realignment project on behalf of NZTA Waka Kotahi.
The Waikare Gorge safety realignment project has been identified as an important project on State Highway 2 (SH2) to make it safer and less likely to suffer closures. It also is seeking to become more accessible, by making travel times through the route more consistent for drivers and less likely to suffer from delays. SH2 from Hawke’s Bay to Gisborne is a key to enabling economic growth in the region.
The ability to fully-realise the region’s economic potential is dependent on an efficient and reliable roading network to major ports and markets.
The roading network in northern Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti has a range of challenging natural environments which have been subjected to repeated serious weather events.
The Tairāwhiti Programme Business Case (PBC), approved in September 2017, was funded through Regional Economic Development funds in response to the Tairāwhiti Economic Action plan. The geographical scope of this PBC included the journey on SH2 between Napier and Ōpōtiki. The Waikare Gorge was identified as a key pinch point on that journey. It was seen by stakeholders as a project that could deliver a significant contribution to the programme outcomes.
The problems identified in the PBC:
The map below shows the potential route the new state highway will go through.
During the initial engagement with stakeholders and the community the description of two alignments was mapped out ('Orange' and 'White'). Since then, our teams have gathered data using drone footage and created animations to help continue their analysis. The 'White' realignment has now been identified as the preferred alignment option.
'White' alignment
The white alignment remains the same as it was when consulted on. It is 3.9km and sits west of the existing 6km section of State Highway 2. More detail can be found here:
Media release: Preferred Waikare Gorge route could have one of NZ’s highest bridges (6 August 2021)
CloseThe design phase involves the development of a Specimen design to allow for resource consent submission. In this case, detailed design includes designing the geometric alignment of the new section of state highway. It involves set-up, planning, investigation, design and review, and helps ensure the project has been well-scoped and can be delivered on time, to budget and to a high standard.
CloseSpecimen design and resource consent application is expected to be complete mid next-year (June 2023). Specimen design involves a review of geotechnical investigation data for the site, the development of civil and structural plans, and resource consent application.
CloseAn arch bridge has been confirmed as the preferred bridge solution. This design will minimise damage to the gorge face. At just over 160m long and more than 60m tall, it could be one of New Zealand’s highest road bridges once built.
The project team has previously undertaken extensive engagement with landowners, mana whenua, the heavy haulage and freight industries, the local community, district/regional councils and other key stakeholders. The project continues to be developed alongside our partners.
CloseApproximately $1m for the business case and $5m for the Pre-Implementation phase (pre-implementation includes development of the specimen design and development of the resource consent application).
CloseYes, Waka Kotahi will revise the business case to reflect the detailed design and submit for funding consideration. At this stage, we cannot give a timeframe on when funding may become available.
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