Bridge breakers in back-blocks

Tu Tangata, Issue 16, 1 March 1984, Page 42

Bridge breakers in back-blocks

Seven men and one woman in the wop wops. The men were there to demolish two bridges, the woman to find out how it was done.

For Maggie Timu Kerrigan, freelance journalist, it meant spending time with a demolition crew in Arero, Tolaga Bay. For the men it was also a new experience as they were more used to demolishing buildings. It was their first time wrecking a bridge. They’d got the job following publication of a story Maggie had written about their demolition work. To them Maggie was good luck so they asked her to come along for the ride. Hastings Demolition got the contract to demolish the two bridges, Hikuwai 3 and 4 after faults were first found in 1965. The need to demolish did not become urgent until last years drought in the East Coast region when big rigs were permitted to take class one loads over class two bridges such as Hikuwai 3 and 4, provided the county councils were informed. However the Ministry of Transport said there were many overweight rigs on the East Coast roads subjecting bridges to excessive impact loading, and the Waiapu County engineer said some loads had been sneaking past instead of going round Opotiki via Gisborne.

Ministry of Works spokesman, Phil Gall said the bridges had been in the news before, after MOW checks in 1964 revealed cracks in Hikuwai 4 after only three years being completed. The MOW wanted the bridge demolished with ‘kid gloves’ so as not to damage the steel girders, thereby making re-decking much quicker. But this posed a problem for the two demolition machines having to perch on girders high above a steep ravine. The machines were a Fiat Allis, used with a rock-breaker to smash the concrete decking, and a Poclain used with a bucket to clear away and dump broken slabs. And the men who worked the machines: Simon Sheratt the foreman driving the Poclain, the other Simon driving the Fiat Allis, and Ralph and Rangi on the ground cutting steel mesh reinforcing. For the writer, Maggie Kerrigan, going along for the ride resulted in this colourful story and great action photographs as the men of Hastings Demolition went about their task. “The Fiat Allis bores the rockbreaker into the decking the bridge

vibrating with each strike broken concrete falling through to land in the river below dust billows up to cloud the air after one section is broken the Poclain would clank to the spot to peel back the concrete this method was tried first it remains to be seen whether it will work. “In theory says Ralph ruefully it might work.”

Its getting pretty shaky up there now, a quarter of the deck is peeled back revealing the outside girder the steel mesh and broken concrete curving towards the opposite side like an open grave it looks like someone painted himself into a corner but being resourceful they soon found the best way to tackle it. Ralph cutting the steel bolts holding the railing with the gas torch Rangi hanging over the edge undoing the nuts what he couldn’t undo Ralph cut it.

The sparks from the torch cascading into the tinder-dry grass beneath the bridge are starting fires the men hope the fires don’t catch on to the scrub and the trees, they’d never be able to stop it. Simon or Rangi stop what they were doing to slide down the soft sandy bank to stamp out the flames. The river is almost dry a brave flow of stagnant water struggling to reach down-river in the drought this river like countless others all over the Bay fights to keep the moisture a losing battle in the intense heat of later days.

The bridge deck is intensely hot, and the men working have no drinkable water at the site the flagon full they brought with them in the morning is almost gone and it’s only early smoko time. Day after day the shortage forces them to drink what they can find a neighbouring farmhouse has water of a sorts they have to strain the bugs out of it before they boil it. Either that, or the river and before many days were up the men plucked up courage to drink the warm slimy water any water is better than nothing.

On some days the weather is bitingly cold, a still breeze blowing through the hills and ridges sends the men seeking discarded jerseys and coats earlier removed in the heat of the first working hours. An extreme change in temperature, but still no hope for rain every

black cloud build-up sends hopeful eyes scanning the skies the slight drizzle that eventuates is hardly a life saving deluge. The local station Radio Gisborne is calling for volunteers to do a rain dance to call down rain in the province.

Bridge looking good now, starting to see the main girders in their shining spendour without the cloying concrete and steel mesh. Breaking the deck in sections, Ralph and Rangi in turns cutting the steel and Simon Sherratt nudging it through with the bucket on the Poclain the boom swings side to side not much room to maneouvre for workers and machine as the boom swings and the Poclain turns, the boys duck to avoid being wiped off the bridge by the revolving cab.

A reconnaissance look at Hikuwai No 4 reveals this bridge similar to No 3 but is 20 feet longer. The decking underneath this one is badly cracked and tar-seal leaking through has defined a clear path of the breaks.

A family of keas have made their home in the supports of this bridge and Ralph is on his knees trying to coax the mother bird out into the open a few wekas live in the area base camp No 3 and come out after the men have returned to work to peck cautiously at bits of discarded food. They wander through the grass and scrub by the river undisturbed by the noise of the Poclain and the traffic clattering over the bailey bridge Ralph wants to catch a picture of a single weka but misses the chance they are plentiful around this area, they can be seen hastily tripping across the road, or peeking from a clump of grass.

Mr Lyle Hendricks the Waipukurau Construction boss and his crew will be rebuilding the bridge when the demolition men have finished their part of the work the Waipukurau Construction guys have been setting up camp at the bridge and watching the proceedings, giving instructions to Simon Sherratt regarding certain sections on the deck they are working in close harmony, one crew helping the other. Lyle said “We will be replacing and reinforcing the deck of the bridge when Simon and his men are finished we will use a crane to lift the girders 300 mm in the air and lay the bearing plates and bearings, then we will build new back walls; a new deck put the hand rails on and she’ll be finished.” He added “We’ll be here for 15 months, the proprietor of the Tolaga Bay Inn has bought a house and we are bringing it up here the house is intended for rent the boys will live in it while they are working.

As the Poclain bites into the remaining concrete with the rock-breaker the shock waves can be seen rippling along the surface of the deck and under the tracks of the Poclain this is getting dangerous. Simon Sherratt and his boys hope the weight of the Poclain won’t

wreck the remaining structure teetering in the middle with a few slender girders and no stabilising concrete and steel mesh to support the main joists leaves one with the feeling of being suspended in space.

One wonders if anything fine will come out of the mess under the bridge the dust and lumps of concrete fall when a big section starts cracking the camera man jumps out of the way pretty smartly. ‘Whump’ a slab of debris hits the spot where once an observer stood. To an onlooker the structure with less and less decking as the days go by must be strong enough to hold the weight of the machinery, although the concrete pylons holding up the girders look flimsy compared to the ones holding up the Bailey bridge. They have taken the vibration and the stress admirably. During the course of the week Simon Sherratt observed that the bridge was six inches out of line a fact that Waipukurau Construction will put right when they take over.”

In spite of all this there were no accidents of a serious nature a few close calls when Ralph and Rangi nearly went down with the concrete they cut a slight mishap with the Fiat Allis getting rescued by the Poclain but even hydraulic hoses packing up didn’t stop the work for long.

A bus load of children from Ruatoria stopped to stretch their legs and talk to the men asking questions about how the jackhammer worked, and watching the machines on the much depleted deck going about their work the Fiat Allis fetching and carrying and the Poclain using the rock-breaker to clobber the decking a call from their driver sent them back to the bus to carry on, they were going on holiday.

The town of Tolaga Bay is a typical country town that can spot a stranger right off a close knit community. The towns folk sat around on forms outside the two dairy’s and the Snarler Parlour where sausages were displayed from every country: there were German sausages, Polish sausages, Dutch sausages even French sausages and sausages with names not seen very much in Hawkes Bay.

A curious fact in this town the shops have two names Tolaga Bay on

the right hand side on entering the town and Uawa on many of the store signs on the left, obviously named after the river which flows between two sections of Tolaga Bay. On certain days about 7.30 am some of the local women would be setting a small line with a tiny hook and bait the women have their lunch and drinks with them as they patiently check the lines they have set and tied to the handrails of the bridge the bait clearly visible in the water a child’s cry splits the silence they have caught a herring and the little one is proudly showing her mother the catch the two herrings wriggling in the bucket. Another piece of bait is strung out.

The men spent time after work at the Tolaga Bay Inn for a drink with the locals working for the Ministry of Works, and the Waipukurau Construction men staying at the hotel. They got to know everyone really well in the time they spent there and had many drinking mates by the time they went back to Hastings. The patrons were a friendly lot they would go up to the boys and say “Hey? where you from? come and have a drink.” It was amazing the direction the talks would take Rangi found a close relative among them and was offered the hand of friendship if they should meet again. The atmosphere in the country pubs has no equal in the cities.

The last of the bridge was finished on Thursday, 7 days after starting the job Friday and Saturday was spent tidying up.

The Waipukurau Construction crew were rebuilding the shining red skeleton, they are there in the worst of the drought but they might get lucky it might just rain.

(At the time of going to press, Hikuwai 3 had been rebuilt and Hikuwai 4 was under the hammer. After this 4 single lane bridges between Tolaga Bay and Ruatoria were to be redecked as well.)