Gisborne District Council gets funding to remove eight destroyed bridges

Removal of Grays Bridge on Bruce Road (Kanakanaia). Gisborne District Council have secured funding to clear remnants of the eight bridges completely destroyed during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Gisborne District Council

Gisborne District Council (GDC) has secured funding to clear away the remnants of the eight bridges destroyed during Cyclone Gabrielle.

New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi made funding with a capped value of $1.6 million available to remove old bridge infrastructure from the river, and council work is under way to ensure the clean-up of waterways and embankments.

GDC director of community lifelines Tim Barry said the council was grateful for the funding to complete this work.

“As time has passed some bridge components have begun to corrode, and it’s important to have these removed to protect our waterways and the aquaculture living in them,” Barry said.

“These components also form large, hard structures in the rivers, influencing natural river dynamics.

“Some of the components are located in challenging areas to access and we’ve needed to wait until the drier months to complete the work.”

Grays Bridge on Bruce Rd (Kanakanaia) has been successfully removed and work that began this week on removing the components of the Hangaroa Bridge on Tiniroto Rd was also completed.

“It’s great to see this programme of work progressing. We anticipate that work to remove the remaining bridge debris will commence and be completed over the next two to three months,” Barry said.

Section two of Grays Bridge rigged out across the Waihora River. Photo / Gisborne District Council

“Where possible, the components are being repurposed for structural hard fill in our roading programme and the steel elements returned for recycling.”

Engagement is continuing for the upcoming removal of the remaining destroyed bridges, including St Ledger Bridge on Ruakaka Rd, Hollywood Bridge on Bushy Knoll Rd, Mangatai Bridge on Te Kowhai Rd, Pauariki Bridge on Hikuwai Rd, Huiarua Bridge on Mata Rd and Burgess Access Bridge on Burgess Rd.

The council has committed $23m of $125m in Government funding from its Roads to Recovery budget for three years from 2024 to 2027 to fix destroyed bridges.

That amount is enough to fix four out of the eight bridges but the council is yet to confirm which four will be prioritised.

The council states on its website design, investigation and procurement processes for the bridges will take at least 12 to 16 months before it can have a rolling programme of two to three bridges a year.

The second and fifth sections of Grays Bridge loaded and ready to be transported. Photo / Gisborne District Council

As of August this year, 6.6% of the destroyed bridge rebuild project had been completed.

Hollywood Bridge on Bushy Knoll Rd is open with the installation of a Bailey bridge.

The other bridge locations have restrictions in place for access via ford crossings and temporary engineered crossings, or an alternative route available.

All seven bridges are subject to funding but the earliest one is not likely to be built until summer 2026.