Cyclone Gabrielle: Plugging the gaps on Redclyffe Bridge

The Redclyffe Bridge with its new, temporary span before reopening in August. Photo / NZME

The Hastings District Council has confirmed new work is being carried out on the Redclyffe Bridge, between Taradale and Waiohiki, because of cracking on the northern end of the old structure.

But the bridge remains open with vehicle-weight and speed limits already in place on the key link between Napier and Hastings. It includes a temporary two-lane structure which opened in August to restore access six months after part of the bridge was destroyed at the height of Tutaekuri River in Cyclone Gabrielle flooding on February 14.

In September the council started preliminary community consultation it plans will lead to the building of a permanent replacement. It is one of three highest-priority replacements after at least 12 bridges in the Hastings District were destroyed in the disaster.

In August the Hastings council (HDC) said the focus was to re-establish a connection for light vehicles and emergency services as a key priority, amid the loss of other bridges on the Tutaekuri River and pressure on the remaining bridges.

A council spokesperson says that during the construction of the temporary bridge, which “reuses” the four end spans from the original bridge, many of the cracks in the original structure were injected with grout to stabilise the cracking.

The HDC has continued to monitor the bridge, and says the existing weight restriction and speed limit is due to cracks in the bridge deck and associated beams. Traffic is being monitored for compliance with this limit.

A feasibility study is one of the first steps in planning the permanent bridge replacement, looking at what may be possible from an engineering perspective, and the council is engaging with mana whenua and the community, particularly around the alignment of the bridge and the road.

Alignment may require land acquisition as part of the project, the council says, and flood scheme and network planning would be needed.

The council says there is no timeframe for the removal of the limits on the bridge, and there is no timeframe confirmed yet to build a replacement.

National highways management agency Waka Kotahi imposed a speed restriction on State Highway 2′s Esk River Bridge for similar work on cracks in the structure.