The Kerikeri Stone Store bridge refused to budge from its historic site yesterday. Rusted bolts defied a crane's efforts to lift one of the seven spans clear of the six piers supporting the 45m structure. The HEB Construction Ltd manager of the bridge demolition, Steve Wooll said oxy-acetylene cutting gear would severthe bolts this morning and the crane would again attempt to lift the span on to a truck. The bridge, built in 1915, was originally wooden. The piers were raised a metre when the bridge was rebuilt after flood damage in the 1960s. Mr Wooll said the piers would be drilled and split once the level of the Kerikeri River was low enough to enable men to work on them. He expected the demolition to be completed by the end of next month. The Northern Advocate yesterday polled five people from the area on their reaction to removal of the bridge. Four supported the move to reduce flood danger to the Stone Store and Kemp House, but they all wanted to know why a promised footbridge was not in place now the single-lane Stone Store bridge was closed. Far North District Council communications officer Rick McCall said an agreement was reached last year to put the footbridge 170m upstream from the Stone Store bridge, but the council and community had found that agreement unacceptable. A new site 70m upstream had been negotiated with the Historic Places Trust and Department of Conservation in early May. Construction of the 54m-long single-span concrete footbridge is expected to begin in 5-6 weeks and be completed by Christmas. The southern abutment of the footbridge would be behind Kemp House and the northern abutment would be in the DOC reserve, west of the carpark. The bridge would be up to seven metres above the normal river level and designed to handle a one-in-1500 years flood. The $2 million cost of the footbridge was included in the $17 million bypass project funded by Land Transport NZ and by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. Mr McCall said reinstatement of a ford below the Stone Store bridge would begin once the bridge was removed.
