Beams bring up milestone for Kopu project

CHRIS HILLOCK/Waikato Times

SPAN-TASTIC: Beams connecting the middle span of the new Kopu Bridge have been lifted into place.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce says excellent progress is being made on the one-year-old $47 million Kopu Bridge replacement project.

The first anniversary of construction was marked yesterday with the last of four steel bridge beams that connect the middle span of the new bridge lifted into place. The 22-tonne beams will support the concrete bridge deck which will carry two-lane traffic and a shared pedestrian/cycle path.

Mr Joyce said the milestone marked considerable progress for the project.

"Work towards the replacement of the Kopu Bridge was not scheduled to start until 2011, but we were able to bring that forward as part of the Government's $500 million Jobs and Growth plan.

"Work on the bridge has created about 50 local jobs that would not have otherwise been there, as well as work for local companies in supplying materials and providing supporting services."

Five of the bridge's 15 piers have been completed and the bridge is due to be completed by 2012.

The existing single-lane bridge cannot cope with the volume of traffic during holiday periods, when queues up to 10km form.

Some 2.5 million visitors are expected to visit the Coromandel in 2011 and traffic volumes expected to continue to rise.

"The Coromandel is one of the country's fastest growing visitor destinations," Mr Joyce said. "As well as creating a better link for holidaymakers during the peak summer period, the new bridge will create a viable transport link for the community and support growing a strong local economy."

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