Whangarei's Te Matau a Pohe raised in early celebration of 10,000 lifts

Mayor Sheryl Mai and bridge operator David Gray in front of the bridge which is raised to mark 10,000 lifts. Photo / Michael Cunningham

With any luck, a Black Cap will raise his bat at Whangarei's Cobham Oval today to celebrate 100 runs.

The Black Caps play the West Indies in a one-day international starting at 11am.

Just over the Cobham Oval fence, a healthy six-hit away, local district councillors took a leaf out the cricket tradition handbook yesterday and raised Te Matau a Pohe to celebrate the bridge's 10,000th opening/closing.

Since July 2013, the bridge has opened and closed 10,000 times.

Although a check of the Te Matau a Pohe scorebook reveals that the milestone was celebrated prematurely yesterday - the 10,000th lift is actually due to happen over the next few weeks.

Waiting motorists sitting in Whangarei's 26-degree heat were not applauding. They were probably unaware the opening/closing was ceremonial and may even have wondered why no boats or yachts were slipping past after the bridge opened.

Which begs the question - why raise the bridge before the milestone, when the only thing passing by on the Hatea River is the time it takes for the bridge to go up and down while several councillors take turns pushing buttons?

Whangarei District Council traffic projects engineer Brendon Tong said the answer was simple - they wanted to mark the occasion but ,as it would have fallen around New Year's Day and got lost in the holiday period, they held it now.

Yesterday was also the best time to get councillors, council staff and operating contractors all together for the ceremonial lift. The lift was actually the 9,894th.

Mr Tong described the bridge as a "game changer for our district" and the "centre piece of the Hatea Loop".

"It's something we should celebrate, it's a conspicuous success."

The bridge lifts an average of six times a day, while there are 11,000 vehicle movements over it each day.