By Alexa Cook of RNZ
The first sod has been turned on a 260m-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 had been there since Cyclone Gabrielle destroyed the old bridge in 2023.
A bridge over the gorge has been talked about for two decades, but it was the destructive cyclone that finally resulted in the proposal becoming a project.
There is no chance of the new bridge washing away, as Rob Partridge from the NZ Transport Agency told RNZ the viaduct would be the highest road bridge in the country, sitting 65m above the river.
“It’s a unique bridge and it’s a unique gorge. It’s about 260 metres long and is a truss bridge, it’ll span a little bit more than the gorge so we can avoid some of the geotechnical and geological issues on the edges.
“It’ll be quite an impressive sight,” he said.
And although it’s expected to take four years to build, Partridge reckoned they might be able to shave some time off that.
“We’ve got a really good construction team on board and I’m relatively confident that they’ll be able to exceed expectations there and bring this in a bit earlier than the four-year timeframe we have for construction,” he said.
Getting to this point had taken years of negotiations with the five landowners whose properties the road would cross. Ben Mackintosh’s family had been farming in the area for over 100 years and he said the new road would cut straight through the middle of his best pasture growing paddocks.
“It’s going to be a pain in the ass. During construction it’ll be quite a nightmare.”
That’s because of the 205ha of his dairy farm, about 27ha would be used to build the road over the next four years. It would disrupt his dairy farming operation and he’s planning to drop down to once-a-day milking because the cows would have to walk further and graze steeper, tougher country.
“We don’t really want it through the farm, but it’s got to be. We can’t stop it.
“I can see why other people want it. We’ll just do what we can and move on,” he said.
He could appreciate the benefits to the region and to farmers on the north side of the gorge, as the road was used by thousands of trucks and cars every day.
Wairoa District councillor Jeremy Harker said the new bridge was a big win for the whole of the East Coast.
“It’s also going to be good for the economy with Affco, our apples, forestry ... all this stuff that comes out of Wairoa.
“It connects us to the coast, to Gisborne and Tairāwhiti, up through Ruatoria and Waioweka Gorge ... it just makes it a smoother, easier, better trip,” he said.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the cost of the project had been reduced.
“A focus on ensuring the project delivers value for money; it was initially costed at $350-$425 million in February 2025 but that had dropped to $275-$325m thanks to competitive tender pricing, design innovation of the bridge structure and mitigation of some key risks.
“It’s an exciting day for Hawke’s Bay, with realignment of this vital East Coast highway creating jobs during construction and providing an efficient, safe and reliable road.”