The pedestrian walkway on Tarawera bridge on State Highway 34 in Kawerau is getting a makeover.
From Thursday 18 April motorists and residents of Kawerau will see increased activity around the bridge as construction gets underway.
This upgrade to the bridge will be a great improvement for Kawerau says Roger Brady, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Regional Manager, Maintenance and Operations for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
“The existing timber elements of the walkway have reached the end of their life and need to be replaced to ensure pedestrians can continue to safely cross the river.
“The pedestrian walkway and downstream bridge concrete curb will be demolished to make way for the construction of a new steel walkway and new guardrails on the bridge and the approach to the bridge. In addition, the footpath will be realigned to the new bridge level,” Mr Brady says.
The construction of the new pedestrian walkway will take approximately 10 weeks to complete.
Stop/go will be in place while work is happening between 6.30am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday. Saturday work is not scheduled, although may be required at some stage during the work. When there is no work taking place on site, traffic signals will be operational.
Scaffolding will be in place under the bridge, so the waterway can be protected, and workers can be kept safe during construction.
“Unfortunately, while preparations were underway, the site experienced 3 incidents of vandalism, including damage to scaffolding and fencing. This is disappointing as it puts the safety of crews at risk.
“We’ve put some security measures in place and ask the community to keep an eye out for any activity outside of work hours,” says Mr Brady.
“NZTA thanks SH34 road users and the community in Kawerau for your support and patience while we carry out this work.”
