James Road Bridge Construction

A new bridge has been built over the Aorere River at James Road, near Bainham, in Golden Bay. It spans the 60-metre gap across the gorge and was finished in December 2011 and officially opened in February 2012.

The original bridge was washed away during the serious flood event in December 2010.

About the Bridge

Designed for full Class 1 loading, the bridge has a steel through truss structure, with a single span of 60m and a concrete deck.

The finished bridge will use 80 tonnes of structural steel and 500 tonnes of reinforced concrete. The abutments are being built first, with the superstructure being constructed from mid-September.

  • Span: 60m
  • Deck width: 4.3m
  • Cost: $1.35m, including contingencies

Specialist Equipment

Bridges of this nature cannot be constructed quickly, and require specialist equipment. The largest crane to be used on the project is a 250-tonne crawler crane which will be used to install the trusses.

The successful contractor, Concrete Structures (NZ) Ltd, has built many large span bridges in the past.

Time-lapse images

Click the image to view construction progress in a time-lapse sequence.

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