Matakohe bridge beams make the long haul

 

Thirty concrete beams for bridge number two across the Matakohe River were delivered recently with a transporter making daily trips from Ranui in west Auckland to the construction site.

The journey of just over 140km usually takes about two hours by car but the transporter takes three-and-a-half hours negotiating the route up SH1 and along SH12 to Matakohe. The transporter uses a remote-controlled rear unit, called a jinker, to manoeuvre the 30m beams around tight corners.

The transporter leaves Fulton Hogan’s fabrication site in Ranui in the early morning to beat Auckland’s peak traffic and arrives at Matakohe between 6am and midday depending on traffic along the route.

The week leading to Labour Weekend there was one beam delivered each day. After that was two deliveries a day Monday to Saturday.

“We know these deliveries are generating a lot of interest along the route. Unfortunately we can’t give definite arrival times or guarantee there will be a delivery every day,” says the NZ Transport Agency Senior Manager Project Delivery Chris Hunt. 
Once the transporter arrives, the beams are delivered through the site entrance on the east side of the Matakohe River. The transporter reverses down the haul road to the bridge site, where a large crane lifts the beams into place.

Lifting the bridge beams into place is a significant milestone in the project to build two new two-lane bridges on SH12 near Matakohe. The new 3km alignment will remove the tight curves and short straights and will improve safety on this section of SH12.

The project is scheduled for completion in the middle of next year.

The transporter carrying one of the 30m beams. The rear unit is remote controlled by a second driver to get the beams around tight corners. [PHOTO/NZTA]