MARAETAHA SPANS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22583, 11 March 1948, Page 4

MARAETAHA SPANS

TWO NEW BRIDGES TENDER MOW ACCEPTED NAPIER CONSTRUCTOR On the second call for tenders the Works Department has accepted that of Mr. A. R. McLean, Napier, for the construction cf the two new highway bridges which will replace two low-level structures on the Maraetaha Stream, near Muriwai. Tenders received when the work was first advertised were considered to be on too high a scale, and the tenders board directed that the contract be offered afresh. The price at which the work is being undertaken is believed to be substantially lower than the average of tenders received last year. The Maraetaha bridges are designed to conform with the standard highways type, with adequate space for two lanes of traffic and with plenty of height over the normal level of the stream to insure against damage even in the most severe floods.

The two low-level bridges to be replaced have been in use since 1936, when a cloud-burst swept away the original high-level crossings, crumbling and smashing concrete panels and piles which were counted equal to a lifetime of use. The normally placid Maraetaha Stream developed a vicious character on that occasion which will doubtless always be in the minds of officers in the the Public Works Department on whom responsibility for bridge ’design must fall. Bailey-Bridge Replacement

It is anticipated that the construction of the two new highways bridges will commence within a few weeks, and that before next summer and its holiday traffic arrive the contract will be completed Complaints of continued dependence on the low-level bridges in the locality, with their rather tricky approaches, have been long sustained and—even departmental experts admit —fully justified. Removal of that grievance will be of mutual benefit to motorists and to departmental officers

Next in the list of bridge projects for district highways is the replacement of the Pouawa Stream bridge, between Gisborne and Whangara, which was swept out to sea in the tidal-wave flood of last March This stream has been crossed by means of a Bailey bridge provided by the Army, since the destruction of the old wooden span; and the emergency span has done good work. It was never intended that it should stay in position for more than a few months.

The new highways-type bridge will have an over-all length of 135 ft., with one central span of 55ft. carried on piers on either verge of the stream, and approach spans of 40ft. on either bank. The bridge will have a good deal more clearance than the old one which was wrecked, and some building up of the northern approach will be included in preparations for its use.