Pāuanui bridge repairs ongoing with expected two-hour overnight delays

Duck Creek Bridge on Hikuai Settlement Rd, Pāuanui, pictured on Wednesday morning.

Overnight delays are expected in Pāuanui on Thursday as essential maintenance and resurfacing work continues in multiple locations.

Duck Creek Bridge on Hikuai Settlement Rd, a bridge that connects the town with the outside world, will be closed for periods of up to two hours overnight between 12am and 6am on Friday while preparation is expected to start at 10pm with delays of up to 15 minutes.

Detours would be in place with residents, pedestrians and emergency services able to have access as required.

Duck Creek Bridge was initially closed overnight on November 21 after a tomo appeared near the bridge approach on November 17.

Thames-Coromandel District Council said the hole appeared to have been caused by a migration of fill materials behind the bridge abutment, the failure, a known defect with the construction process of that type of bridge common across the country.

It was believed recent high tides coupled with isolated heavy rainfall events in the area caused the protection to the toe of the wooden retaining wall under the bridge to collapse, removing the base of the fill and creating the void.

While heavy vehicles, specifically forestry trucks, had been increasingly present on the main artery to the Coromandel town in recent months due to large sections of forestry being cleared near Duck Creek and further towards the coast, the council said it was unlikely increased heavy traffic movements were related to the failure.

On November 21 the bridge approach was excavated to determine the depth and size of the void, and missing material was replaced. The road surface was then reinstated.

The bridge is situated about halfway along on Hikuai Settlement Rd, between Pāuanui and State Highway 25.

On Wednesday council roading manager Ed Varley confirmed contractors had found the fill material at the abutment had moved and settled, but not as badly as expected, “so we were pleasantly surprised by that”.

Overnight works on Wednesday would see the road surface repatched and final chip seal surface reinstated, now that major excavation and reinstatement of the underlying area had been completed and confirmed to be successful, Varley said.

“The bridge has never lost integrity; the issue was with the fill to the bridge abutment moving, there have been no changes to the works, which took place as planned and returned the anticipated results.”

Varley said no cost estimates were available as works were still being carried out.

“No final cost estimates are available at this time; no other issues have been identified other than those expected.”