Cyclone Gabrielle: Four rural Hastings sites being assessed for Bailey bridges

Hastings District Council has provided residents with a roading update. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hastings District Council (HDC) is assessing four additional sites for the installation of Bailey bridges.

Many Hawke’s Bay communities continue to have limited or no road access, partly as a result of damaged or destroyed bridges.

The surrounds at the Moeangiangi, Whanawhana, Ellis-Wallace and Mangatutu low-level bridges are all being examined for “technical and engineering suitability”, although that does not guarantee Bailey bridges will be erected on those sites, and HDC have offered no timeframe for assessment or construction.

Previously publicised work to replace the State Highway 2 Waikare River and Rissington bridges remains ongoing, the council said in a statement on Monday.

“While access is being progressed, isolated communities will continue to receive helicopter and ground drops of vital supplies and essentials.”

A number of Hawke’s Bay farmers, for instance, are eager to move stock off properties before the onset of winter, with road and bridge access being essential to that.

HDC has around 100 roading crews working across the region - in repair or assessment roles - and has provided updates for when various routes will open for full or partial use.

Dartmoor Road, for instance, is expected to open with a temporary bridge in four to five weeks’ time, while Puketitiri Road is estimated to have Bailey bridge access by the middle of this month.

Kaweka faces delays of at least two months, while it’s too soon for HDC to even speculate on a number of road and bridge re-openings at Tūtira.

For a full list of estimated re-opening dates for rural roads and bridges, see: https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/home/article/2689/hastings-rural-roads-and-bridges-estimated-reopening-dates?t=featured&s=1.

Meanwhile late on Monday NZTA announced Waitangi Bridge on SH51 between Napier and Clive will close overnight Tuesday to Friday for work to further secure the gas pipeline which is attached to the underside of the bridge.

The bridge will close at 9pm and reopen at 5am each night.

Roading contractors and bridge engineers carried out load testing on Friday with heavily laden trucks and the bridge is now open to two lanes at all other times.

Now the bridge has passed its load test, contractors will be working to further secure the pipe to the bridge.