An important lifeline repairs for a Christchurch coastal community has been completed by the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT)’s Fulton Hogan team.
The South Brighton Bridge sustained significant damage in the February 2011 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. Because Southshore is a tsunami evacuation zone, the area needs a swift and safe escape route for residents – the Bridge Street Bridge.
The liquefaction and land movements meant that the work involved rebuilding the bridge abutments on both ends with new piles, ground improvements and levelling, realigning, surfacing and repairing the existing bridge deck and services running through it.
The repair was originally anticipated to take a year, but as ground conditions and degree of damage was assessed more accurately onsite, the time had to be extended to allow for more extensive piling work in the estuarine environment.
As a result is was decided to build temporary abutments at each end of the bridge to enable two-way traffic and reduce the stress on the community from a long homeward detour.
The Fulton Hogan team held a community celebration for the reopening of the bridge which attended by South Brighton school pupils, local City Councillor Glenn Livingstone, residents groups and members of the community attended alongside Fulton Hogan engineers and crew and SCIRT designers.
“The restoration of the bridge is a huge event for Southshore people,” says Southshore Residents Association chair Bill Simpson. “For those of us who have our homes here that short piece of road over the river and the estuary and into South Brighton is like a “welcome home” banner. To see it restored is a major step in getting our area back to being the restful haven we once enjoyed.”
South Brighton Residents Association chair Hugo Kristinsson also welcomed the bridge completion. “It is a relief for the community to finally get full access to the bridge. It has been and still is a challenge for the community that has suffered so much in the earthquakes.”
