Construction begins on country's highest road bridge
Construction has officially begun on a new 260-meter truss bridge across the Waikare Gorge in New Zealand. The project aims to replace a temporary structure and provide a permanent, resilient connection between Napier and Wairoa.
Why it matters
Infrastructure resilience is critical for regions prone to natural disasters like Cyclone Gabrielle.
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The first sod has been turned on a 260 metre long bridge on State Highway 2 that will stretch across Waikare Gorge between Napier and Wairoa.
Once constructed, it would be New Zealand's highest road bridge, replacing a temporary one lane bailey bridge that'd been there since Cyclone Gabrielle destroyed the old bridge in 2023 .
A bridge over the gnarly gorge has been talked about for two decades, but it was the destructive cyclone that finally resulted in the proposal becoming a project.
The damaged bridge following the 2023 cyclone.
There's no chance of the new bridge washing away, as Rob Partridge from the Transport Agency told RNZ the viaduct would be the highest road bridge in the country, sitting 65 metres above the river.
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