The Queen Elizabeth Park swingbridge over the Waipoua River is about to get the biggest refurbishment of its 87-year history, with a spruce-up from anchor blocks to balustrades starting next month.
Because of the extensive nature of the work, the bridge will be closed from 3 August until around mid-November.
The nearest alternative crossing of the river is the SH2 Bridge on Opaki Road by Masterton’s northern roundabout, about 200m upstream, accessible via the recreation trail.
Masterton District Council Roading Services Manager Kaine Jaquiery said the work was essential.
“We replaced the decking of the bridge about five years ago, and we’ll be re-using this on the bridge, but we now need to look at all aspects of maintenance for different parts of the structure,” he said.
“We appreciate the bridge is used and enjoyed by a lot of people but for much of the work it is simply not practical or safe to maintain access. We apologise for the inconvenience but it will be worth it when the bridge reopens.”
The job will start with excavation around the buried anchor blocks that hold the main bridge cables in place, to allow full inspection of the cables.
This will be done one end at a time, and Kaine urged people to heed warning signs and barriers.
“It may appear that work is not happening on one side of the river but that just means it is proceeding on the other side. The bridge closure is for everyone’s safety.”
Work will also see the deck hardware replaced, and the towers water blasted and repainted.
It will be carried out by Abseil Access, who built the much newer Whitipoua Bridge over the river, which opened in 2022.
Project Manager Cal Rattenbury said the project was a major makeover for the bridge and a great 87th birthday present.
“The design incorporates new corten steel componentry to give it an aged look to tie in with the structure's maturity. Corten deliberately develops its own rust patina which counter intuitively protects the steel from further corrosion.
“When we’ve finished, it will be structurally sound, while still maintaining the look of a beautiful old bridge. We will be reducing the deck weight considerably and correcting the shape giving it less 'wiggle’ so it performs like a brand-new bridge.”
A brief history…
- The current swingbridge was built following changes to the course of the Waipoua River as part of flood protection work, at a cost, of around £800.
- It replaced an earlier bridge built to provide easy pedestrian access to the hospital.
- Work was carried out by five unemployed men, under the “Number 5 relief scheme”, the overseer at the time, Wally Dale, recalled to Times-Age in 1979 when Mr Dale was 80.
- Talking to the Times-Age, Mr Dale tied the construction date to the election of the first Labour Government in 1935 – probably actually the re-election of the government in 1938.
- Mr Dale recalled that two of the crew vowed to drink a glass of homebrewed beer for every Labour candidate elected. The Times-Age helpfully calculated that would have added up to 52 glasses each.
- “I think they were pretty well under the table by the time the results came through,” Mr Dale was quoted as saying.
- He recalled laying out the boxing for the 9m towers on the floor of the town hall. One of the towers had to be re-poured after an earthquake cracked the concrete.
- “People would probably just scoff today at such a job, but it took us nearly eight months to complete with only the very basics of tools.”
- In 2021, the decking of the bridge was replaced, and it became accessible to mobility scooters. This decking will be re-used as part of the current project.
