Beam placement kicks off after Easter

The first beams are being lifted and placed on the Waikanae River Bridge after Easter as part of the Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway.

To make sure the public are safe, the shared path on the southern side of Waikanae River will be closed at the project site from 7.30am on Tuesday 29 March for five days. The southern path will reopen at 6pm onSaturday 2 April. Monday 4 April will be used as back up day if it’s needed.

River path users who are interested in seeing the beams being placed will be able to watch from the northern river path, which will remain open.

One of the country’s largest crawler cranes will lift two 150 tonne crosshead beams onto the bridge piers, then lift the first span of Super-Tee bridge beams into place. Each beams weighs up to 95 tonnes.

Once this initial work is complete the crane will move to Te Moana Road to lift beams into place for Te Moana Road Interchange, before returning to the Waikanae River Bridge to lift the last four spans of beams into place from the northern bank.

The 180m-long Waikanae River Bridge will be the largest structure on the Expressway. It’s designed to withstand 100 year floods and 1-in-2500-year earthquakes.

The $630m Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway will improve road safety, reduce travel times, and reduce congestion on local roads.

ENDS

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