Burnside Bridge Replacement: the business angle

Farmer Dave Ellison is fighting for a better solution for Burnside Bridge, which faces removal. Burnside Bridge Replacement has emerged this Friday as one of the stories drawing attention in New Zealand.

Key facts

• Farmer Dave Ellison is fighting for a better solution for Burnside Bridge, which faces removal.
• “We also tested the like-for-like replacement of a single lane bridge [estimated value of $9m] with NZTA.
• Bridge It NZ sales and marketing manager Dan Batey said he stood by his quote of $2.75m for a replacement one-lane bridge.
• “If someone’s house burnt down on Burnside Rd or was on fire or a cardiac arrest or medical event, it takes the fire brigade at least 10 minutes to get around and back to the same place.”
• I would love to understand where that difference is coming from,' bridge builder says.

What we know

“We also tested the like-for-like replacement of a single lane bridge [estimated value of $9m] with NZTA.

On the substance, Bridge It NZ sales and marketing manager Dan Batey said he stood by his quote of $2.75m for a replacement one-lane bridge.

Beyond the headlines, I would love to understand where that difference is coming from,' bridge builder says.

More precisely, the Burnside Bridge crosses the Makaretu River near the small community of Takapau.

It is worth noting that But any replacement bridge had to be built to specifications and design standards required of all public road bridges across New Zealand.

By the numbers

“If someone’s house burnt down on Burnside Rd or was on fire or a cardiac arrest or medical event, it takes the fire brigade at least 10 minutes to get around and back to the same place.”

On a related note, a Central Hawke’s Bay farmer was left gobsmacked when his council told him it was unviable to replace a damaged rural bridge over his local river because it would cost up to $16 million.

Going deeper, Bridge It NZ claims it can build a viable one-lane bridge over the Makaretu River for $2.75m.

On the substance, the council’s estimate for a one-lane bridge is $9m, three times the cost.

What they're saying

“If you are treating a small council road like a state highway bridge it’s obviously going to escalate costs unnecessarily,” he said.

“The only ones missing out are the ones on the other side of that bridge.”

“One lady has to do 56km a day to get her kids to the college, which is a huge cost to her, and it’s even worse now,” he said.

The wider context

“We know how strongly some of our Takapau community feel about Burnside Bridge.

“We proposed circa $16m for a two-lane bridge, as NZTA [NZ Transport Agency] process requires us to prepare an estimate for a modern bridge in order to calculate the cost-benefit ratio.

On the substance, the council’s preferred option is to spend $560,000 of NZTA funding, made available to the council for cyclone recovery works, to demolish the current bridge connection.

Beyond the headlines, In previous information provided to the community during consultation, the council said NZTA wasn’t currently offering to co-fund more than the cost of demolition, because the bridge had low traffic volume before it was damaged, and the detour for affected users of the bridge was 5km.

More precisely, Ellison said he couldn’t understand the massive discrepancy in costings, when Bridge It NZ had told him a single-lane multispan bridge that met state highway standards could be built over the river for $2.75m.

The bottom line

• The Burnside Bridge crosses the Makaretu River near the small community of Takapau.
• A Central Hawke’s Bay farmer was left gobsmacked when his council told him it was unviable to replace a damaged rural bridge over his local river because it would cost up to $16 million.
• The council’s estimate for a one-lane bridge is $9m, three times the cost.
• Searches spiking right now: $16m bridge rebuild unviable, community told – so local farmer got his own quote, ACT New Zealand, Construction delayed again for earthquake-ready Burnside Bridge in Portland - Oregon Public Broadcasting, Burnside Bridge Cost Blows Up.