Peacocke Bridge
Peacocke Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Peacocke Bridge in 2022 | |
| Coordinates | 37°48′16.6″S 175°18′45.3″E / 37.804611°S 175.312583°E |
| Carries | Motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians |
| Crosses | Waikato River |
| Owner | Hamilton City Council |
| Preceded by | Narrows Bridge |
| Followed by | Cobham Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 215 metres (705 ft) |
| Width | 26.2 metres (86 ft) |
| Height | 30 metres (98 ft) |
| Longest span | 70 metres (230 ft) |
| History | |
| Designer | Bloxam Burnett & Olliver |
| Constructed by | HEB Construction |
| Construction start | 2020 |
| Opened | mid 2024 |
| Location | |
 | |
Peacocke Bridge is a girder bridge under construction over the Waikato River in Hamilton, New Zealand. The bridge on Wairere Drive is part of the Southern Links, which will complete a ring road around Hamilton. It will link Hamilton East with a new suburb of Peacocke. Construction started in 2020,[1] though the plan originated in 1962.[2]
The bridge is formed with 2,650 tonnes of steel[3] and is expected to be completed by mid 2024,[4] at a cost of $160.2M,[5] though budgeted at $135M in 2020,[3] estimated at no more than $60M in 2017[6] and formerly at $40M.[7] The bridge was delayed by COVID-19 and Cyclone Gabrielle and other storms.[8] The four-lane bridge was designed by Bloxam Burnett & Olliver, and is being built by HEB Construction.[7] It will include bus lanes and cycle paths,[3] and will also carry the Peacocke to Pukete sewer line.[9] The river was closed to boats during construction.[10]
Both banks of the river have been stabilised to support the bridge. The north bank, next to the bridge abutments, has a 50-degree slope, rising 45 metres (148 ft),[11] or 35 metres (115 ft), and was stabilised with 150-millimetre (5.9 in) soil nails.[12] The total length of the bridge is 215 metres (705 ft),[13] including the 11-metre-high (36 ft) mechanically stabilised earth wall of the southern bridge abutment, which is on compressible, loose Taupō Pumice alluvial soils,[11] of the river terraces. The bridge itself is 180 metres (590 ft) long (made up of a 70-metre (230 ft) northern span, 50-metre (160 ft) central span and a 60-metre (200 ft) southern span), 26.2 metres (86 ft) wide,[7] on 38-metre-deep (125 ft), closely spaced, bridge piles, with 35-metre-long (115 ft) earth anchors and over 600 eight-metre-long (26 ft) soil nails.[11] The bridge is over 30 metres (98 ft) above the normal river level.[13]
The main support is a pier on the south bank of the river,[1] formed of weathering steel, in two lattice-shaped, 30-by-22-metre (98 ft × 72 ft) Y sections, each weighing over 200 tonnes. The lattice is made up of 2.2-by-0.82-metre (7.2 ft × 2.7 ft) box-section welded plates. They were lifted into position by a 600-tonne crane.[14]
Wairere Drive cycling and pedestrian bridge
[edit]Installation of a 71-metre (233 ft) curved pedestrian/cycleway bridge weighing over 200 tonnes, made up of five weathered-steel sections,[15] 70 metres (230 ft) north of Peacocke Bridge, was started in 2022. The bridge crosses the extension of Wairere Drive, to maintain the Te Awa link to Hamilton Gardens.[7] Māori design is reflected in the bridge, with two 25-metre (82 ft) steel masts, representing a waharoa (gateway), and influenced by a taurapa (carved waka sternpost). The motif is a takarangi (intersecting spiral), as seen on sternposts, denoting a threshold.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Big bridge progress can be tracked on timelapse video". Stuff. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Hamilton Southern Links Executive Summary" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "Waikato River Bridge and surrounding transport network". Hamilton City Council. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Peacocke transport network on the home straight with the final project stages under way". Hamilton City Council. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ Ward, Stephen (29 June 2022). "Road to inflation – New Waikato River bridge build jumps $20 million". Stuff. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ Wilson, Libby (3 August 2017). "Bridge to Peacocke: functional or a feature for Hamilton?". Stuff. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d "NZ Contractor magazine on LinkedIn: The Peacocke Road Bridge is part of a near $400 million urban expansion…". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Strategic Growth and District Plan Committee Agenda" (PDF). Hamilton City Council. 17 August 2023.
- ^ "Northern wastewater pipelines". Hamilton City Council. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ "Waikato River closures during bridge to Peacocke construction". www.waikatoregion.govt.nz. 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ a b c "Peacocke Waikato River Bridge Site Visit". New Zealand Geotechnical Society. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Civil Contractors New Zealand National Awards 2022". issuu.com. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Waikato River Bridge". infrastructurepipeline.org. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ "Waikato River to Peacocke Bridge". Culham Engineering. October 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ "Footbridge in place as new Waikato River bridge centrepiece". Hamilton City Council. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ "Iwi-council partnership delivers striking gateway for new community in Peacocke". Hamilton City Council. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2023.