Investigations on the Hairini Bridge will be done from a boat on the Waimapu Estuary between Tuesday, 3 February and Friday, 13 February.

While none of the work will be on-road, Tauranga City Council encourages drivers not to slow their speed to have a look so traffic can continue to flow without interruption.

All activities will be below the bridge using a pontoon boat fitted with a small mobile scaffold tower. The piles will be cleaned with a water blaster to allow close visual inspection and bridge reinforcement scanned with ground penetrating radar. There will also be some sample drilling.

Contractors will be complying with all environmental considerations, including not disturbing the protected white-fronted terns that nest on the piers, and containing any debris in the boat, however the work may discolour the water, either from the pier cleaning or sediment stirred up from the estuary bottom.

The work is part of the Fifteenth Avenue to Welcome Bay project which will see improvements aimed at reducing congestion and improving transport choice. Plans include three-laning Hairini Bridge to enable two traffic lanes citybound in the morning, changing to two lanes towards Welcome Bay in the evening, as well as a clip-on shared use path for walking and cycling.

The investigations will help determine the expected remaining useful life of the bridge and the seismic capacity of the existing bridge and piers.

For more information about the Fifteenth Avenue to Welcome Bay project visit letstalk.tauranga.govt.nz/welcomebay.

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