Napier-Wairoa highway State Highway 2 to close for bridge upgrade at Waikare Gorge

The Waikare Bailey bridge replacement project site is prepared for cranes to arrive before the new Acrow Bridge is installed.

A larger, more robust bridge is being installed this weekend on the highway between Wairoa and Napier.

During Cyclone Gabrielle more than two years ago, the bridge spanning the Waikare Gorge was destroyed, severing the connection between Wairoa and Napier.

Three months later, in May 2023, a temporary Bailey bridge was installed while work on the long-term realignment project continued.

Now, State Highway 2 at the Waikare Gorge will be closed for 24 hours from 10am on Saturday, September 6, to allow for the current Bailey bridge to be lifted out and the new Acrow bridge to be lifted into place.

An Acrow bridge is a prefabricated steel bridge designed for rapid assembly, transport, and disassembly.

A NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) statement says the new Acrow Bridge will be 1 metre wider and stronger than the Bailey Bridge. It will accommodate larger vehicles, with capacity for high-productivity motor vehicles (HPMV) and “more over-dimensional vehicles”.

The Acrow bridge has a chipseal surface, which the NZTA expects to be quieter than the Bailey bridge.

Workers were on site on Thursday and Friday, assembling the two cranes required for the replacement.

After the weekend’s 24-hour closure, there will be an additional three nights of closures to focus on widening the northbound and southbound approaches to the new bridge.

These closures will be from 9pm to 5am on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, September 7-9.

The road will reopen at 5am Wednesday, September 10, at which time the Acrow bridge will be fully operational, according to the NZTA.

During the closures, residents south of Pūtōrino will be able to travel to and from the Napier area, but not north past the gorge.

As soon as the 24-hour closure has finished, the new bridge will be open to light, 50MAX, and HPMV vehicles less than 3.2m wide, until the first night closure later on Sunday, when work starts to widen the approaches.

The NZTA advised motorists travelling between Napier and Wairoa before the closure times to allow enough travel time, ideally a minimum of one hour from either location, to make it to the gorge before the closure starts.