Transit New Zealand

Hamilton Regional Office

Media Release

22 July 2008

Tararu Stream Bridge replacement about to reach key milestone

Transit New Zealand's Tararu Stream Bridge Replacement project on State Highway 25 is about to reach a major milestone, with the demolition of half of the existing bridge.

The bridge will be reduced to one lane in early August, for approximately five months, until the construction of the new bridge has been completed.

Transit started work in May to replace the Tararu Stream Bridge, just north of Thames, to help protect the area from flooding as part of the Coromandel's Peninsula Project. Over the past two months piling has been carried out for the northern stream training wall, which will guide water directly under the bridge and prevent the bridge and Tararu Creek Road being undermined by flood water during major storms.

Transit's contractor will begin to remove the eastern (inland) half of the existing bridge within the next three weeks, leaving the remaining (coastal) side to carry all traffic and pedestrians while the eastern half of the new bridge is being built. Once completed, the new eastern side of the bridge will carry the traffic and pedestrians while the remaining (coastal) section of the old bridge is demolished and replaced with the final half of the new bridge.

Transit regional manager Kaye Clark says construction has been programmed to enable half of the bridge to remain open, while the other half is being rebuilt.

Mrs Clark says, 'We originally intended to demolish the whole bridge at once and provide a temporary one-lane Bailey bridge for traffic, but have revised our construction method to keep half of the existing bridge open. This allows us to start work to replace the Te Puru Stream Bridge further north on SH25 quite a bit sooner than planned as we can now work on both bridges at once.'

Transit is also replacing Te Puru Stream Bridge, approximately 11km north of Thames, as part of the Peninsula Project. Peninsula Project is a partnership between Environment Waikato, Thames-Coromandel District Council, Department of Conservation and Hauraki Maori Trust and involves an integrated multi-agency approach to managing the flood risk on the Thames Coast.

The current bridges at Tararu and Te Puru can handle less than half the volume of water that comes downstream in a major storm. The new bridges will be higher and longer, with greater capacity for floodwaters and the large amount of debris that is carried downstream during floods.

The new bridges will feature 1.5m shoulders on both sides for cyclists as well as footpaths on the downstream (coast) side of each bridge for pedestrians. Traffic lanes will be 3.5m wide, bringing the bridge widths up to current standards.

For further information, contact:
Alison Keehan

Project Manager

Transit New Zealand

07 903 5150 / 027 220 2642

Or

Julie Hannam

Communications Advisor
Transit New Zealand

Hamilton Regional Office

07 903 5146 / 027 294 2649