Road closures over summer peak for vital bridge repairs

Mangawhai’s Tomarata/Insley Street bridge will close for three 48-hour periods as part of a $2.3 million overhaul to repair damaged concrete and corroded steel supports.

The first closure will be in mid-November, the second in mid-December and the third in mid-January.

Exact dates and times will be advertised via local media, Facebook and the Antenno app when the dates and times are confirmed, and noticeboards will be placed either side of the bridge a week before the closures happen.

The bridge has been single lane with traffic signals since work started in September, but now complete closure is needed to allow new concrete to be poured in two of the bridge’s four structural beams, following the hydro-demolition of the corroded concrete last month.

Kaipara District Council’s Mangawhai programme delivery manager, Tim Manning, said the bridge needed to be closed for safety reasons while the new concrete set.

“It’ll take up to 48 hours for the concrete to strengthen enough to safely support traffic on the bridge,” he said.

During the closure, local light traffic will be redirected along Cames Road, while long distance and heavy traffic will be diverted along State Highway 1 and the Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Road. Council said security would be in place to make sure heavy vehicles did not use Cames Road, and added that improvements would be carried out to Cames Road to cope with the extra traffic.

The bridge was built in the 1950s from reinforced concrete and steel, which has corroded and weakened the structure. The repairs are expected to take at least six months, due to access restrictions and the difficulties faced by contractors having to work over tidal water. Night work has been ruled out, due to the noise involved from high-pressure water jets.

Council hopes to open the bridge to two-way traffic over the three-week Christmas holiday peak, though this is dependent on repairs being finished on three of the four beams by then, and the fourth being strong enough.

Info: kaipara.govt.nz/services/roads-footpaths/tomarata-bridge