New bridge for Balfour residents

The Southland District Council has opted to replace, rather than remove, an aging Balfour bridge, saying a new, shallow-piled structure offers both the best outcome for road users and good value for ratepayers.

Roading asset manager Russell Hawkes said the 50-year-old wooden bridge, which crosses Waimea Stream on Murphy Road, had continued to deteriorate, despite a vehicle weight restriction imposed 14 years ago.

“As part of our 2007-2008 bridge replacement programme, we inspected the bridge again and found that, really, its time is up,” Mr Hawkes said.

“The bridge has a relatively low daily traffic level, but with the possibility of heavy vehicles using it, just putting in place further weight restrictions would have been impractical.”

The council’s activities performance audit committee had explored six alternatives ranging from completely removing the bridge, at an estimated cost of $10,000, to constructing culverts or replacing it using a structure with deep piles, which would have come with a price tag of about $130,000.

“After weighing up all the considerations, the committee approved a full replacement using a low cost, pre-cast concrete on shallow-piled foundations, which will cost around $80,000. It’s cost-effective for ratepayers and, at the same time, provides road users a sturdy, functional bridge that meets their needs,” he said.

Removing the bridge was not deemed viable, given the extent to which Murphy Road residents rely on the bridge, especially neighbouring farmers.

“They cross the bridge several times daily and, without it, would have been forced to make a six-to-10km detour just to get from one side of their property to another.”

Tenders for the new single lane, 16m-long bridge would be called in the New Year, with construction due for completion by the end of June.