Latest news with #ChrisMahoney
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Automotive
- NZ Herald
Napier-Wairoa road: Tenders set to open for Waikare Gorge highway project
A computerised Waka Kotahi flyover of the Waikare Deviation planned for State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa. Video / Waka Kotahi NZTA Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. A tender for building a 3.4km State Highway 2 deviation between Napier and Wairoa should be let early next year, paving the way for a project likely to cost over $400 million. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) senior project manager Chris Mahoney said a tender process for the Waikare Gorge realignment, bypassing Putorino and the gorge, will open this month and close in December. With land use and resource consents granted last year and property acquisition to be finalised, it will enable a start in 2026. Confirmation comes as work starts on a second temporary replacement bridge just north of Putorino at the site of the Waikare River bridge, which was destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023. NZTA says funding for the Bailey bridge replacement by New Zealand's first Acrow bridge, amid the phasing out of the Bailey bridge stock first used in New Zealand in the 1940s, is separate from that of the realignment.
NZ Herald
22-04-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Waikare Gorge highway realignment plans pass crucial consent milestone
A spokesperson said with the applicant's agreement, processing timeframes were extended until the district council designation process was complete and 'draft conditions of consent could be worked through and finalised'. The district councils have consented changes enabling farmland to be used for the road on the near-4km route announced four years ago bypassing the gorge and the southern-approach township of Putorino. NZTA senior project manager Chris Mahoney said once property agreements had been finalised, NZTA would be looking to bring forward early enabling works. In the past fortnight, a tender process ended with Beca and Stantec appointed to a joint 'Principal's Technical Advisor' (PTA) role and the Design and Construct (D&C) contract will be awarded via a tender process later this year. 'As much as possible, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi will be working with local contractors, supporting the local economy, while also accommodating the area's planned growth and ultimately increasing reliability and efficiency for freight and other road users,' Mahoney said. The priority was to see construction under way as soon as possible. A funding green light was announced by Government in February, and Mahoney said this week: 'At this stage, we are on track to begin main on-site construction of the realignment early next year.' There is expected to be little disruption to traffic during the construction, which is mainly off the current highway and includes a bridge over the gorge. The road through the gorge was closed for three months in 2023 after the Waikare River bridge was destroyed in Cyclone Gabrielle, with no suitable detour. A one-lane temporary Bailey bridge was opened the following May and has now been in use for almost two years. With a cost estimated by Minister of Transport Chris Bishop in February at possibly up to $425 million, it will be the most costly highway project ever in Hawke's Bay.
