infonews.co.nz
INDEX
COMMUNITY

Kaitaia Bridge to be Strengthened

Tuesday 26 June 2012, 4:53PM

By Far North District Council

498 views

KAITAIA

Works aimed at strengthening Donald Lane Bridge in Kaitaia will begin on Monday (July 2).

The Far North District Council is replacing the piles of the one-lane bridge which spans the Whangatane Spillway and handles 1200-1500 vehicle movements a day.

It expects GHK Piling to take until the end of August to complete the work which will cost about $70,000.

The council will replace the deck of the 33-metre-long bridge at a further cost of $70,000 when it has obtained funds and approval from the New Zealand Transport Agency.

People who need to cross the spillway while the bridge is closed will be diverted along Allen Bell Drive to a bridge over the Awanui River near Matthews Avenue.

The diversion will marginally shorten the journeys of motorists who would normally use the Donald Lane Bridge to travel from Kaitaia Airport and Oturu to Kaitaia.

Council General Manager Infrastructure and Asset management David Penny says the Council has no plans to widen the bridge to two lanes.

However, it will modify the bridge so it can be extended when the Northland Regional Council has completed hydrological studies to determine the new width of the spillway at the bridge.

The regional council plans to widen and deepen the spillway and join it to the Awanui Flood Protection Scheme further upstream.

It has told the district council that it will propose the works, which are planned for 2014-15, in its 2013-14 Annual Plan.