Te Tango Anga’anga o te Kūki ʻĀirani/Ministry of Infrastructure (ICI) have selected bridges across Rarotonga based on the respective structure condition and number of users, to undergo maintenance work.

The total cost for the work is $320,000, which is part of this financial year's $700,000 appropriation that ICI spends on bridge maintenance annually.

The contract is due at the end of June this year; however, it is expected that work will be completed before then.

The maintenance project will see to the repair and upkeep of existing bridges and structures for the: O’oa bridge, Takuvaine Stream Takamoa bridge, Totokoitu bridge, Taipara Stream bridge, Kent Hall Box Culvert, Pue Stream bridge and the Apii Avarua pedestrian bridge.

These bridges were selected from an assessment of all the 80 bridges and main culverts around Rarotonga that was conducted in 2023.

Infrastructure’s chief engineer Matthew Sullivan says that of the six bridges in the original contract, Bridge 43 (Koteka Bridge - the 2nd bridge on Takuvaine stream) is complete.

According to Sullivan, the repair work on Bridge 4 - O’oa Bridge, Bridge 12 - Kent Hall Box Culvert, and Bridge 14 - Totokoitu Stream Bridge are all currently in progress.

Variation work at Bridge 3 - Pue Stream Bridge following a vehicle accident in December 2024 has also been completed.

The accident at Br3 Pue Stream Bridge caused significant damage to one of the wingwalls, said Sullivan.

“ICI completed a design to reinstate the wingwall and Landholdings Ltd worked quickly to remove the damaged concrete and construct the new wall.

“This work was prioritised and completed at the start of the contract to reinstate the guardrail barrier,” he added.

Ignorance of road users:

Landholdings Ltd are the contractors for the bridge work and have noted the ignorance of road users.

“One concerning challenge our contractor has experienced is road users speeding through the work site,” said Sullivan.

“A 10kph speed restriction has been put in place while the repair works are completed for the safety of road users and the work team.

“To address this, sleeping policeman (rope across the road) has been installed to slow traffic down.”

Work began at the O’oa Bridge in Tupapa some weeks ago but came to a halt. Some additional guardrail materials that were imported arrived in port last week, and work is to restart in the next two weeks.

This week, work on Bridge 15 - Taipara Stream Bridge in Titikaveka will start.

Bridge 71 - The Pedestrian Bridge at Apii Avatiu has been planned so that the repair work will take place over the coming April school holidays.

Scope of work for each bridge are: Bridge 4 O’oa Bridge – Rock Rip Rap reinstatement, guardrail replacement, concrete repairs to wingwall; Bridge 12 Kent Hall Box Culvert – spalling repairs to the underside of the pedestrian bridge and joints inside the box culvert; Bridge 14 Totokoitu and 15 Taipara Bridges – Installation of W-barrier guardrail; Bridge 43 Takuvaine-Takamoa Bridge – Installation of a reno mattress downstream of the bridge to stop water scouring the foundations; Bridge 71 Apii Avarua pedestrian bridge – concrete spalling repair. Road users are advised to adhere to the temporary traffic management measures in place while the contractors undertake this work.