Bridge building a bonus for flood-prone school

Taipa Area School's quadrangle during a flood, a regular event before the NZTA bridge building team fixed the stormwater system. PICTURE / SUPPLIED

Chronic flooding which regularly closed a Far North school has been fixed, thanks to a construction crew working on a nearby bridge.

In heavy rainfall stormwater used to flood the grounds of Taipa Area School in Doubtless Bay, forcing 300 Year 1-13 students to stay home for days at a time. In 2017 it happened six times.

Principal Doreen Bailey said she would tell anyone who would listen, and some who didn't want to listen, about the flooding, in the hope of getting help.

"The quadrangle used to flood. It was so bad the water level would be over the top of the kids' gumboots," she said.

It was only when the NZ Transport Agency's construction team came to town to replace the old one-lane bridge across the estuary that Ms Bailey found a receptive ear.

As well as replacing the bridge the team was tasked with making road safety improvements and replacing some of the town's stormwater pipes.

The new Taipa bridge will open to two-lane traffic later this year. PICTURE / NZTA

The project team worked with the school, the Ministry of Education and the Far North District Council to find the extra funding needed to extend the new stormwater pipes from the bridge to the school.

NZTA senior manager project delivery Andrew Thackwray said it was a good problem to solve with great benefit to the township.

"It wasn't about cost. It was about achieving better value for a key stakeholder by utilising a range of funding streams outside the National Land Transport Programme," he said.

"It puts a spring in the step of the project team, knowing that they're doing good for the community as well as doing a great job on the bridge replacement."

Ms Bailey said the improved drainage had been a great success with no flooding and no need to close the school during heavy rain so far this winter.

"We're very pleased and very grateful to the NZTA and the project team."

Taipa's old-one lane bridge was a major congestion point on State Highway 10, especially in summer, but the new two-lane bridge with a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists will be finished in time for this year's summer traffic.