![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a-mock-up-of-signage-recently-installed-at-the-97-year-old-b-NDE2VOGFFZFJJFBCQ2A4FL24PA.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThough the long-term fix for a 97-year-old bridge in Tararua remains unknown, the cheapest option for ratepayers may be replacing the structure entirely.<\/p>\n
By Rebecca Hogan of Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n
Alfredton bridge has been open with restrictions since the middle of August, after it was completely closed in April when engineers found cracking within the structure of the critical route east of Eket\u0101huna.<\/p>\n
Future repair and strengthening work for the bridge would cost anywhere from $2.6 million to $5.6m according to preliminary estimates provided by engineers to the Tararua District Council.<\/p>\n
In total, the district council had spent roughly $80,000 this year on Alfredton bridge.<\/p>\n
Tararua Alliance manager Daniel Erard said $22,000 had been spent on maintenance, $35,000 went towards a structural assessment and testing, and another $22,000 for the installation of barriers, necessary signage for restrictions and line-markings.<\/p>\n
Erard said \u201cwe can\u2019t comment on what the final solution might be\u201d, but Tararua Alliance was preparing a business case for NZTA which would be ready by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
The council would keep the community updated on the transport agency\u2019s response.<\/p>\n
Last week, NZTA cut funding for Tararua\u2019s road network from 2027 \u2013 a move estimated to cost ratepayers nearly $1.3m over three years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A mock-up of signage recently installed at the 97-year-old bridge to make it easier for motorists navigating the new safety restrictions. (Source: Tararua District Council) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
Without including costs associated with realigning the road, the current high-level estimate available for a full replacement of Alfredton bridge was $2.5m.<\/p>\n
Engineers identified specific issues with carbonated concrete throughout the bridge as a contributing factor to the structure\u2019s deterioration and said treating this concrete would cost more than replacing the structure.<\/p>\n
Assessments were underway to weigh up the costs and benefits of each option and the risks of retaining the nearly century old bridge.<\/p>\n
For now, only vehicles under 3.5 tonnes could cross \u2013 allowing school vans, which had been forced to take longer, alternative paths, to return to their original route \u2013 and it was restricted to a 10km speed-limit.<\/p>\n
Alfredton school children were caught in the middle of the months long closure earlier this year, with some school buses forced to add an extra 30 minutes to the journey with the bridge closed.<\/p>\n
Around 15% of the bridge\u2019s daily users were heavy vehicles.<\/p>\n
To further protect the bridge, the council recently installed signage to help prevent heavy vehicles entering the intersection.<\/p>\n
\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though the long-term fix for a 97-year-old bridge in Tararua remains unknown, the cheapest option for ratepayers may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[687,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-594912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-housing-and-infrastructure","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}