Bridge It NZ claims it can build a viable one-lane bridge over the Makaretu River for $2.75m.
That’s five times cheaper than the council’s estimate to build a two-lane bridge, which the council claims makes the rebuild unviable.
The council’s estimate for a one-lane bridge is $9m, three times the cost.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council group manager of infrastructure and asset management Mark Kinvig said the council knew how important the bridge was to the community, and it wanted an economical solution.
But any replacement bridge had to be built to specifications and design standards required of all public road bridges across New Zealand.
“We proposed circa $16m for a two-lane bridge, as NZTA [NZ Transport Agency] process requires us to prepare an estimate for a modern bridge in order to calculate the cost-benefit ratio.
“We also tested the like-for-like replacement of a single lane bridge [estimated value of $9m] with NZTA.
“We will be going back to the community with NZTA’s feedback on our two proposals.”
Building a ford across the river has also been deemed unviable by NZTA.
The council’s preferred option is to spend $560,000 of NZTA funding, made available to the council for cyclone recovery works, to demolish the current bridge connection.
In previous information provided to the community during consultation, the council said NZTA wasn’t currently offering to co-fund more than the cost of demolition, because the bridge had low traffic volume before it was damaged, and the detour for affected users of the bridge was 5km.
Kinvig said they had worked through various scenarios with the Takapau community, and in the most recent community meeting, “some people” had asked for investigations into the viability of other options to repair it, which he said they did.
“NZTA is currently reviewing the various options, and once we have a decision on co-funding, we will be heading back to the Takapau community to discuss the findings with them.”
The council would make a final decision over what would happen at the site in June, a council spokesperson said.
Ellison said he couldn’t understand the massive discrepancy in costings, when Bridge It NZ had told him a single-lane multispan bridge that met state highway standards could be built over the river for $2.75m.
He said the community was “fed up” with being told the bridge was unviable while watching the council spend money on “non-essential” infrastructure, such as $200,000 for a rebuild of the Tukituki-Tarewa Swing Bridge for cyclists.
“One lady has to do 56km a day to get her kids to the college, which is a huge cost to her, and it’s even worse now,” he said.
“If someone’s house burnt down on Burnside Rd or was on fire or a cardiac arrest or medical event, it takes the fire brigade at least 10 minutes to get around and back to the same place.”
Ellison said the bridge’s closure had impacted school buses, contractors, businesses, emergency service response times and mail delivery.
“It’s essential to the community, and it’s had a huge flow-on effect.”
Burnside Bridge near Takapau, Central Hawke’s Bay, was left damaged after Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. Photo / Central Hawke’s Bay District Council
Bridge It NZ sales and marketing manager Dan Batey said he stood by his quote of $2.75m for a replacement one-lane bridge.
“It’s important to take each site for being unique, and not taking a blanket approach.
“The bridge … clearly doesn’t need to be $16m.”
Batey said his estimation was based on “firm knowledge of product costs” and a similar, smaller bridge built in the area.
“We were quite generous with a lot of our allowances, because obviously each site is very site-specific and has its own constraints.”
His quote included input data, geotech surveying, catchment analysis, design, and lodgement of council and other consents, and land easements if needed.
He said it would be built to the same standard as “a typical state highway bridge” and have unrestricted use.
“I would love to understand where that difference is coming from, and what the constraints are of not being open to taking a different or common-sense approach.”
He said preventing overcomplication was a key part of keeping costs down.
“If you are treating a small council road like a state highway bridge it’s obviously going to escalate costs unnecessarily,” he said.
“The only ones missing out are the ones on the other side of that bridge.”
Kinvig said the council was aware the community wanted to keep the bridge but “tough decisions” needed to be made.
“We know how strongly some of our Takapau community feel about Burnside Bridge.
“The effort they have put into looking at alternatives reflects that.
“Replacing this bridge would be millions of dollars. If ratepayers were to pay for it alone, that would mean sacrificing a lot of other things.”
Two other bridges also remain closed in Central Hawke’s Bay due to damage from Cyclone Gabrielle – Tod Rd Bridge and Wilson Cutting Bridge.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.