Big milestone for South Brighton and Southshore community – community celebration Friday morning

One of the important lifeline repairs for a Christchurch coastal community is coming to an end. The major repair of the South Brighton bridge is wrapping up in coming weeks after two-and-a-half years work by SCIRT’s Fulton Hogan team.

The repair was originally anticipated to take a year, but as ground conditions and degree of damage was assessed more accurately on site, the time had to be extended due to much more extensive piling work in the estuarine environment.

Although traffic was originally just one-way westbound only for six months, when the extended time required was known, temporary abutments were built at each end of the bridge to enable two-way traffic and reduce the stress on the community from a long homeward detour.

Because Southshore is a tsunami evacuation zone, the area has to have a swift and safe escape route for residents – the Bridge St* bridge.

Latest development – bring on the trucks as of Friday
As of Friday, with the bridge deck recently lowered onto its new abutments and piers, and with the lanes wide enough to take a wider vehicle, trucks will be welcome again. The weight restriction on the bridge will be lifted. Heavy vehicles have had to take the long route to South Brighton while the repair has been under way.

The route is also much straighter than the bendy pathway created by the temporary abutments, which residents have become expert at negotiating.

Friday community celebration
SCIRT’s Fulton Hogan team is having an informal community celebration at the bridge, on the South Brighton side, from 10 am to middayFriday, 27 March. South Brighton school pupils, local City Councillor Glenn Livingstone, residents groups and local people are attending 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.”

Hugo Kristinsson said a further celebration was also planned for when the bridge was fully completed with landscaping and other details in place. “Hopefully including a welcome sign for the area," he said.

• Visitors to the open morning on Friday should park on the South Brighton end of Bridge St, then walk up to the site office for more information on the stages of repair for Bridge St bridge and to get an idea of the work still to come.

* Bridge Street (and thereafter Bridge St bridge) was named after Admiral Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge GCB (1839- 1924). New Brighton Bridge was a British Royal Navy officer. This name continues the theme of British Admirals, explorers and fighting seafarers used in New Brighton. [The street was formed long before the South Brighton bridge was opened in 1927.]

(More information: http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/PlaceNames/ChristchurchStreetNames-B.pdf and http://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/christchurch-place-names/ )

ends

© Scoop Media