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Kerikeri Heritage Bypass |
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A cavalcade of vehicles marked the official opening of the Kerikeri Heritage Bypass by Prime Minister the Rt Hon Helen Clark on Friday 18th July 2008. Close to 60 vintage and classic cars accepted the invitation to participate in the parade to celebrate the event. The cavalcade assembled at the Kerikeri Sports Complex on Waipapa Road and travelled via the bypass, Kerikeri Rd and Cobham Rd to the official opening by the Prime Minister at The Centre at 11 a.m. The Prime Minister led the parade in a 1974 Rolle Royce driven by Dennis Thomson, accompanied by Far North Mayor Wayne Brown. An estimated 250 invited guests and members of the public attended the opening ceremony. Representatives of Ngati Rehia and the Kerikeri High School kapa haka group welcomed guests and Minister of Housing Shane Jones responded on behalf of the Prime Minister's party and invited guests. The celebration was addressed by Mayor Brown who presented a copy of Nancy Pickmere's book "Heritage of Dreams" to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister addressed the gathering and officially opened the bypass. Media Release - 18 July 2008 - Prime Minister: Kerikeri Heritage Bypass Protects a Treasured Early Contact Site Media Release - 18 July 2008 - Bypass Opening: A 27-year Wait says Far North Mayor The Kerikeri Heritage Bypass is rated as the most significant roading project ever undertaken in the history of the Far North District Council. It is a landmark project which will have a huge impact on Kerikeri's future, with implications across the Far North and beyond. Council commenced construction of the Kerikeri Heritage Bypass early November 2006. The 1.6 kilometre Kerikeri Heritage Bypass will protect icons in the Kerikeri Basin, including the Stone Store and the Mission House, which are the oldest buildings in New Zealand. The first stage of the project, the construction of the 1.6 kilometre new road and new bridge over the Kerikeri River, was completed and the road was opened to traffic at 1 a.m. on 23rd June 2008. Construction of the final stages of the project are scheduled for completion by Christmas 2008. The project includes a road bridge over the Kerikeri River, the Far North's first purpose designed cycle way and footpath, and a footbridge over the river within the Kerikeri Basin. The route will extend from Kerikeri Road near Hawkins Cresent to Waipapa Road near Blue Marlin Drive, taking through traffic away from the historic Stone Store precinct. The existing road bridge in the historic Kerikeri Basin is currently being removed. The $17 million bypass project is being fully funded jointly by Land Transport New Zealand and by the Government through Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage, to help protect the historic buildings in the Kerikeri Basin. The history of the bypass can be traced as far back as the early 1980’s when the former Bay of Islands County Council first investigated the possibility of a more convenient roading link between the town centre and the eastern seaboard. For more than 50 years the only roading link between central Kerikeri and the rapidly expanding settlements north of the Kerikeri River was the single-lane bridge in the Stone Store Basin. The first single-lane wooden bridge was constructed in 1915 and the existing single-lane concrete bridge in the 1960s. As traffic volumes increased over the years, it became more and more important to find an alternative to total reliance on this flood-prone access route and to upgrade to a two-lane bridge. However successive Councils did not have the ability to fund a project of this magnitude, without placing an unacceptable burden on ratepayers. At the same time, the NZ Historic Places Trust and Department of Conservation were becoming increasingly concerned at the flood risk posed by the bridge to one of New Zealand's most important heritage precincts. After flood waters entered the historic buildings, it became clear than affirmative action could not be delayed indefinitely. This was further supported by an engineering analysis of the Stone Store which disclosed structural deterioration, some of which could be attributed to the vibrations and fumes from vehicle traffic passing within metres of the building. These factors coupled with the potential of the Basin as a future World Heritage site, were the primary drivers. Open days were held during the early days of construction of the new bridge (attracting over 1000 visitors), at the Stone Store and Kemp House on 15th & 16th June 2008 (attracting about 500 visitors over two days), and as a prelude to the opening of the bypass to traffic on 22nd June (attracting an estimated 750 visitors). Design The bypass was designed to provide a link road across the Kerikeri River from Kerikeri Road to Waipapa Road, bypassing the heritage basin area known as the Kororipo - Kerikeri Basin. The existing 7-span single lane traffic bridge in the Kerikeri basin is currently being removed. This removes through traffic from the basin area thus reducing traffic vibration damage to the historic buildings. At the same time the flood risk to the historic buildings has been reduced. The existing bridge causes a restriction in the river by trapping trees and debris during storm events, creating a dam across the river at the site of the historic buildings and exacerbating the flood risk to those buildings. The single lane bridge also creates traffic delays for traffic on Kerikeri Road. Kerikeri Road carries around 8000 vehicles per day. Project Scope
Construction The construction contract was let to the Drury-based consortium HEB Smithbridge Ltd for $13,989,712. (The company name was subsequently changed to HEB Construction Ltd). Contract supervision and management is being carried out by GHD Ltd. Construction of the 1.6 kilometre bypass and new bridge was completed and the new road opened to traffic at 1 a.m. on 23rd June 2008. The first sod was turned by Far North District Council Mayor on 1st November 2006. Ngati Rehia had undertaken the blessing of the site several days beforehand so that work could start on the 1st. The archaeologists and iwi representatives were present at all times during the removal of the vegetation and upper surface layer. The Department of Conservation also required that a specialised kiwi search dog was run every morning before any clearing commenced. Construction work has now moved to the Stone Store Basin. The final stages of the contract include:-
Temporary access across the river During the period between the demolition of the old road bridge adjacent to the Stone Store and the completion of construction on the new footbridge 70 metres upstream, alternate pedestrian access across the river is available via Edkins Road, the new sports fields on Waipapa Road and the bypass walk/cycleway. Please view the map for alternate options. Kiwi Find On 22nd November 2007 the search dog (Maggie) and her handler found a large brown kiwi which was recovered and relocated to another bush area outside Kerikeri. The kiwi was discovered about 30m from houses in Kerikeri. Archaeological finds On the 7th December 2006 a midden was discovered on the south side of the river by the site based tangata whenua. The remains of several hangi pits were also discovered. The archaeologist returned to the site and took samples from the midden and hangi pits for carbon dating. He noted that the swamp area nearby would most likely contain items of archaeological interest too. Tangata Whenua, Historic Places Trust and Council worked together to complete an authority to damage a historic site in one month (over the Christmas period). When work commenced on the clearing of the swamp area the first pre-european maori artifact was found. Work stopped and a plan of excavation was developed. The archaeologist approved the use of the 20 tonne digger to carefully remove the spoil from the swamp and spread it on adjoining ground so that the spoil (mud) could be searched by hand for more artifacts. In all some 29 wooden pre-european agricultural tools were found all in surprisingly good condition due to having been preserved by the swamp The dig was managed full time by two archaeologists assisted by at times up to six members of Ngati Rehia. All of the items found were stored on site immersed in water, in an air-conditioned site office until the swamp excavation was completed. They have since been transferred to Auckland University to undergo dating and a preservation process before being returned to the Ngati Rehia people. The project construction work was able to proceed around the swamp area. Poupou Blessing Te Rununga o Ngati Rehia has marked its relationship with the land, Kerikeri and the Council in a graphic and traditional presentation of two poupou at the northern and southern entrances to the new Bypass. The poupou was blessed at a ceremony at Kerikeri on 16th May 2008, transported to the bypass and erected on site. The carved poles remained covered until an unveiling ceremony at 6.30 a.m. on 22nd June 2008, the day before the bypass was opened to traffic. As part of the early morning ceremony the new 81-metre bridge was also blessed by the Ngati Rehia people. Carved locally from totara logs recovered from the bypass route during the early construction stages, the poupou stand over six metres tall to mark Ngati Rehia's special relationship with the project and the community. The taonga were carved by Rameka Reweti and Hemi Rihari in consultation with the late Remarie (Ray) Kapa. The poupou acknowledge the goodwill developed in the course of the bypass project, Ngati Rehia's associations with the land and the integration of the community in the post-European development of the area. The poupou project was funded with the assistance of the Council, Eastern Community Board and the local business community. Weather We have now had six significant weather events during the construction period. They were 6th February 2007, 29th March 2007, 10th July 2007, 13th August 2007, February 2008 and April 2008. The river rose some 6 meters during the March 2007 event and some 3.5 meters during the July 2007 event. Damage to the site was minimal due to the great job by the contractor in stormwater and environmental control. Bridge The 81-metre bridge over the Kerikeri River is a three-span concrete structure some 11 metres above normal river level. This is three metres higher than design specifications to meet a 2000-year flood. A temporary bridge was built across the river and used as a staging structure during the construction of the new road bridge. All construction traffic entered the site from the north end of the project using the temporary bridge to access the south half of the project, avoiding the need to take construction traffic through the Kerikeri CBD area. Bridge beams were precast in Auckland and transported to the site. The service ducts on the bridge provide for electricity, telecommunications, water and sewerage requirements well into the future. Some 10 ducts have been cast into or slung under the bridge. The footpath slab had to be thickened and the electricity ducts changed to galvanised steel to accommodate Top Energy Ltd requirements for 22 KVA service lines with a 105mm diameter. Surfacing To comply with the requirement to keep traffic noise to a minimum the new road is surfaced with asphaltic concrete, a surface membrane which has very good noise reducing properties. Landscaping The resource consent specified which native plant species and the layout to be used on the cleared areas. Noise control includes close boarded timber fences and landscaped earth bunds. Extensive consultation has been undertaken with adjoining landowners regarding the planting and landscaping measures. Over 65,000 trees and shrubs have been planted to date. Project Completion The bypass opened to traffic on 23rd June 2008, and the completion date for the whole project including a new pedestrian bridge in the Stone Store Basin is November 2008. The Prime Minister has been invited to officially open the bypass at a date yet to be confirmed. Two poupou have been carved by Ngati Rehia using totara trees recovered from the bypass site. The poupou were erected at each end of the bypass on 16th May 2008 and were unveiled at 6.30 a.m. on 22nd June 2008. You can refer to the following media releases for more information about the Kerikeri Heritage Bypass and the tender process. Project Timeframes
Keep an eye out for our media releases which will provide updated information about progress of the project. |
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Go to topPage last updated 24 July, 2008
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