Devil’s bridge to replace Devil’s Elbow?

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A bridge to ease the sharp bend at Devil’s Elbow on State Highway 2 is on the table as NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi asks for public feedback on how to help the region’s highways recover from the cyclone.

The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) team has been engaging with affected communities and also wants feedback on motorists’ journeys along the state highways to minimise disruptions during its repair work.

Feedback closes at 5pm on April 16 and can be submitted through the NZTA website.

Hawke’s Bay’s state highways were devastated during Cyclone Gabrielle, with State Highway 5 through Esk Valley and State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa especially hard hit.

According to the NZTA website, TREC is considering changes to reduce the risk of closure of one or both lanes for the well-known hairpin bend just west of Tāngoio, between Napier and Wairoa.

No time frames or costs have been given for any of the SH2 proposals, which are described in the document as “early ideas”.

During the cyclone, water poured off the hillside, tearing through the road and leaving behind a mess of sludge and slash which trapped a truck driver on Devil’s Elbow.

The options proposed in the document for Devil’s Elbow include —

Widening and straightening the road by cutting into the hillside or constructing short bridges over the gullies.

Creating new larger drainage channels alongside the road to capture and divert stormwater and sediment to prevent further erosion and slips.

Building a new bridge or “upsized culvert” to ease the sharp bend to improve safety and manage water flows better.

The work is separate from the

$250 million Waikare deviation, the State Highway 2 Waikare Gorge Realignment, which when approved is set to replace an existing six-kilometre section of road including Pūtōrino and the Waikare River Bridge destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle and replaced by a temporary Bailey bridge.

NZTA said it had considered suggestions to bypass the Devil’s Elbow with ideas like Napier MP Katie Nimon’s suggestion to use the rail corridor as a new highway, or building tunnels and bridges.

But the high costs, length of time to construct and complexity of the topography and geography meant the team were focused on upgrades to the existing corridor, the document said.

TREC is also seeking feedback on work to help prevent SH2 and SH5 from being affected by flooding and other natural hazards. — Hawke’s Bay Today