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The completion of the vital bridge link for the O Mahurangi Penlink Road has been delayed by at least a year, Waka Kotahi NZTA announced last week. Cost overruns are also possible.
The project, which connects Whangaparāoa Peninsula with State Highway 1 at Redvale, was to have been completed by late 2026, but the bridge across the Wēiti River is now not expected to be completed until early 2028.
Without the bridge, the rest of the route, still predicted to be complete by late 2026, will be of no use to Whangaparāoa commuters.
Work on the temporary platform on the western side of the Wēiti River began last October – this was the first step towards building the bridge. Therefore, by the time of its expected completion, the bridge build would have taken more than four years.
The main reason given to Transport Minister Simeon Brown for the delay is that the innovative extradosed bridge, a first of its kind in NZ, has been more complex to design and build than expected. This includes “complex interfaces between temporary staging and permanent works”.
Onsite ground conditions also proved to be different from what had been anticipated during the tender process. Lockdowns at the time of tendering meant bidders had limited access to the site.
Waka Kotahi’s update to the Minister says that the project team is working to keep any cost increases caused by the delay within the allocated contingency.
The build is the work of the O Mahurangi Alliance, which consists of Waka Kotahi, Fulton Hogan, HEB Construction, Aurecon and Tonkin & Taylor.
The alliance is undertaking a “cost to complete” process, informed by recently completed detailed design. This should be completed in October, and the public will be updated at that stage.
All other work is still forecast to be completed late 2026, including the new intersections on Whangaparāoa Road near New World supermarket and the section from State Highway 1 to Duck Creek Road interchange.
Waka Kotahi transport services regional manager Stephen Collett says the bridge delay means that when the new alignment of Whangaparāoa Road is completed, the traffic signals on it will not be operational and a barrier will be in place to avoid access onto the road leading to the bridge. Traffic will continue to use Whangaparāoa Road.
He says Waka Kotahi acknowledges the disappointment this will cause the community.
“However, we can assure them that the team is working efficiently and continuing to explore initiatives to improve the programme,” he says. “We expect to have more certainty on the implications of this delay in the coming months and will provide an update when we have more information.”
Councillor John Watson says while everyone knows it’s not uncommon for big transport projects to have delays, the reasons here – complexity of design and ground conditions – seem to have come pretty late in the piece.
“People have waited the best part of two decades for this project so it’s to be hoped their patience is not tested any further,” Cr Watson says. “The pressure is now on NZTA to ensure the 12 month delay is all there is as far as unwelcome surprises go and if possible, that some time is made up in the construction period ahead.”
A decision on whether or not to toll O Mahurangi Penlink has not yet been made by Minister Simeon Brown who told the paper last week it will be made “in the coming months”.
Channel closures
The Wēiti River navigational channel was temporarily closed while the staging platform was constructed and will be open by the end of this week. • While the channel is open, vessels travelling upstream of the worksite will pass through a restricted navigable gap between the eastern and western sections of the platform • During working hours, as construction continues, loads will regularly be lifted over the navigable gap, requiring the channel to be intermittently closed for short periods • NZTA asks river users, including paddlers, intending to travel upstream of the worksite to stay in the middle of the channel and follow the guidelines and directions of the team. This is to keep river users safe and ensure no vessels pass beneath a suspended load • A second temporary closure is planned for later this year.
