Soggy winter no hindrance to bridge builders

DESPITE a soggy winter, construction of the $4.27million Waiohine Bridge on State Highway 2 is right on target with the bridge expected to be operational in time for this year's Christmas holiday season.
Transit New Zealand project manager Jonnette Adams all the 12 massive piles holding up the structure were in place and once the cross beams are all are on site, construction of the bridge deck can begin.
Ms Adams said there had been a bit of a delay because of last month's floods, but in the meantime two of the five piers had been poured.
She said one of the main benefits of the structure will be that because it will be longer than the existing one, the water way will be less constricted, which in turn will greatly cut the risk of the riverbanks overflowing, lessening the flood risk for the surrounding countryside.
The area next to the 93m-long, 10.6m-wide bridge will be landscaped to enhance the environment in the vicinity of the Maori Cemetery.
The first bridge across the Waiohine River was built in 1859 and back in those days tolls were collected from 1872 until 1886.
A dedicated toll operator lived on site and pocketed the tolls, paying the then Carterton borough council an annual lease for the privilege.
Nothing got across the bridge without paying ? even sheep and goats who cost their owners a penny each while pedestrians forked out twopence. A horse-drawn vehicle paid the princely sum of one shilling and sixpence.
The original toll gate first used on the Waiohine, or Black Bridge, from 1872 until 1889 was recovered from a paddock in Carterton, and will be incorporated in the landscaping for the new bridge, along with a sign outlining the gate's history.
The first bridge lasted for 22 years and was replaced by a second wooden one which in turn was replaced by today's concrete structure in 1921.
In 1975 the deck was widened to its existing width. On an average day 8000 vehicles cross the bridge, including 1000 commercial vehicles.