Work begins in January on piling for a second Tutaekuri River Bridge, as part of the State Highway 2 Hawke’s Bay Expressway Roads of National Significance project.

Yesterday, details were confirmed for work in January to prepare for piling a second Meeanee Road overpass.

From 12 January, piling will also start further south at the Tutaekuri River.

Crews will be working Monday to Friday in the off-peak times, between 10am and 2pm only.  Occasionally crews may work the same hours on a Saturday.

During those hours, large steel casings need to be lifted into place to allow for cement to be poured into them.

There may be up to 4 lifts every day during the off-peak work period. On each occasion, traffic will be stopped in both directions, with delays of between 10 and 20 minutes to be expected, while the lift happens and the traffic queues are subsequently cleared. This temporary traffic management will apply 80 metres each side of the bridge.

Please plan your journey accordingly and expect to be stopped on this stretch of road if you’re travelling between 10am and 2pm.

During the work, a large crane will be lifting long steel piles (up to 36 metres) into position. To keep everyone safe, traffic must be stopped until the pile is secure.

This work is expected to be complete on 5 July, however other bridge work will continue to the west of the existing bridge.

We’re thankful for people’s patience during this time and by doing this during off-peak times, disruption to freight and to commuters will be minimised.