Media Release

Release date: Friday 8 March 2013

Steel girders to bring new life to Whangara Bridge

A Whangara bridge will soon gain another 25 years of life with a novel and relatively inexpensive upgrade.

The 45 metre Andrews Access Bridge on Waiomoko Road, for many years restricted to 16 tonne vehicles with a 7 tonne axle load, will be upgraded to a Class 1 bridge capable of carrying 44 tonne vehicles.

Gisborne District Council roading engineer Dennis Malone says the bridge has concrete girders but a weak deck that showed signs of stress particularly on the outer deck area. Steel girders have been placed alongside the existing girders and the cavity between them filled with concrete.

“This is a first for this method and has been tricky. We are creating a composite bridge so that the deck and beams are back as one strengthened unit. The steel, which we won’t be able to get to the inside again, is being painted on both sides before being welded on. The paint has a 25-year life.”

Contractor Fulton Hogan is expected to complete the job by the end of March. The $100,000 cost compares favourably with a replacement cost of $0.5m.

The council’s roading engineers are constantly thinking how best to extend the life of the district’s bridges, most of which are 50 to 60 years old.

“If we can increase the capacity and the life in one hit, that’s a pretty good deal. People don’t realise how important bridges are – bridges are the weakest link in the roading system. We need to look after them.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Metservice: Where Will Snow Fall And What To Look Out For

The deep Antarctic air that is expected to sweep across the country this week is bringing very significant weather to many provinces.Here's the official MetService view of the key weather concerns for the country.

MetService Media and Communications Meteorologist Dan Corbett commented,"While snow will be a major issue for those in the South Island, wind and hail will affect many North Island districts."

Snow is expected to fall to sea level, or very near it, from Southland to South Canterbury from late Wednesday into Thursday and Friday. The snow level is expected to rise to 200m from about Christchurch northwards... More>>