| 67 ENGINEERING Rea Engineering Pedestrian bridge a boost for town T Kim Newth As well as connecting the town centre to the river, the new pedestrian bridge links Westport with the Kawatiri Coastal Trail’s popular cycling and walking tracks. Dubbed the jewel of Buller District Council’s Westport Riverbank Project, the new Toki Poutangata Bridge is an exciting addition to the town. As well as connecting the town centre to the river, the new pedestrian bridge links Westport with the Kawatiri Coastal Trail’s popular cycling and walking tracks. Six months after severe flooding in Westport damaged hundreds of homes, the town is looking to the future with the $2 million Riverbank Project – funded from the Provincial Growth Fund - focussed on revitalising an industrial area between the Buller River and the town centre. The name chosen for the new bridge – Toki Poutangata, or Toki for short – describes a ceremonial adze of chiefly authority, reflected in the distinctive tapered shape and pounamugreen colour of the bridge design by DC Structures Studio. Supported by local iwi Ngāti Waewae, the concept conveys qualities of strength, mana, bravery and triumph. Coated with resilient next-generation fluoropolymer paint, this hardy truss will hold its green colour for a long time to come with little maintenance needed. The job of building the 38 metre steel walkway truss, measuring 5.8m at its highest point – with a complete lift weight of 29 tonnes - went to Westport’s Rea Engineering Ltd. Locally owned Rea Engineering is a trusted and long standing, community-oriented company with a long history of operating in the Buller. The skilled team has accumulated experience going back three decades in farm, marine and heavy engineering. Previous large-scale projects are many, including the full design and construction of two 30m truss bridges for the Stockton Mine catenary pipeline, and design and construction of a 115 tonne purpose built stowing machine for Stockton Alliance. Rea Engineering has completed numerous successful projects for both Buller District Council and WestReef Services Ltd. “The Toki bridge certainly ranks high, in terms of the scale and significance of steelwork that we fabricate here,” says company owner/manager and construction engineer Allan Rea, whose father founded Jim Rea Farm Engineering in the mid-1990s following many years as a railways’ engineer in Westport and in Arthur’s Pass including the Otira Tunnel. Rea Engineering was founded as a separate company in 2010. “Our workshop is long enough for this type of fabrication, but the height of the truss was such that we actually had to alter our workshop door to make it a bit higher!” Westport’s rail history played a pivotal part “The Toki bridge certainly ranks high, in terms of the scale and significance of steelwork that we fabricate here.” in this project. Rea Engineering made good use of an old rail shed near their workshop at the northern end of the Westport KiwiRail yard, converting and adapting it into a fully enclosed painting booth, complete with internal temperature and humidity controls. The truss structure itself was built in two halves in the workshop before being transported to the shed using forklifts and a HIAB loader crane. Once painted, an out of the box transportation to site solution was used, approved by KiwiRail. The entire truss was placed on specially constructed pivoting bogies – also made by Rea Engineering – and then slowly pushed 500m along rail tracks, using a five tonne 4WD tractor, from shed to final riverbank site. The Toki bridge was then lifted into place onto pre-constructed abutments at the end of November last year, with the crane lift coordinated by Reefton Crane and the project’s main contractor, WestReef Services. “Chris Stoop, of KiwiRail (Operations Manager West Coast) was brilliant and very helpful as we worked through the process of getting the bridge in place. The line to the site wasn’t straight; it was curved like an ‘S’ and we had to cross four switches, but using the low profile bogies worked out very well and this solution saved a lot of money on shipping and transportation. “Now that it’s in place, it looks really good and is a prominent new landmark at the end of the main street.” The main challenge during construction, shared by developments across the country, was disruption associated with Covid, slowing down shipment of critical supplies such as 12mm structural steel tube (SHS) from Australia. Last year’s lockdown also held up painting work. While Westport is still recovering from last year’s floods, another positive for the town is a recent port upgrade with new floating jetties and facilities for the local fishing fleet. Under construction also is a new $20m Buller Integrated Family Health Centre. As well, $10 million has been pledged by regional council for a new flood protection scheme for the town. “I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re heading in the right direction,” says Allan. Trained Technicians Emergency 24-7 Service All Welding Repairs & Fabrication All Hydraulic Hose & Fitting Repairs Agents for Ryco 24/7 Allan: 021 777 487 Work: 03 788 8081 www.reaengineering.co.nz 64 PALMERSTON ST, WESTPORT 7825 021-777-487
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