Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Kopu Bridge
The Historic Kopu Bridge (originally Hauraki Bridge and sometimes Waihou River Bridge) is a single-lane swing bridge that spans the Waihou River, near its emergence into the Firth of Thames in the Thames-Coromandel District of New Zealand's North Island. The bridge was completed in 1928 and was part of State Highway 25. The swinging span in the middle of the bridge is 43 metres long and with an overall length of 463 metres, the bridge was the longest and oldest single lane bridge within the state highway network. It is also New Zealand's only remaining operational swing bridge.
As the first available crossing of the Waihou River and the main link between the Hauraki Plains and Coromandel Peninsula, it sees a lot of traffic, especially during holidays. Due to a gradual increase in the traffic between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, by the early 1990s the bridge became the most heavily used single lane bridge in the country,[citation needed] with traffic volumes of an average of 9,000 vehicles per day. Traffic flow over the bridge was controlled by traffic lights and the bridge was notorious for queues which formed during peak times such as holiday weekends, when three hours delay were common.
Rarely used as boat traffic declined (especially for shipping use, with the river once navigable all the way up to the town of Paeroa) in the latter years before it was closed to traffic, the swing span could still be opened to provide a 15.3 m wide channel to passing vessels.
The bridge is the only surviving road bridge of the swing span type in the country and Heritage New Zealand lists the bridge as a Category 1 historic place, while it is also on the IPENZ Engineering Heritage Register.
In December 2011 a new two-lane bridge opened directly to the south of the old bridge. The old bridge remains under active threat of demolition. However a local group, the Historic Kopu Bridge Society has been working since 2011 to retain the bridge into community ownership, so that it may remain as a pedestrian and cycleway and NZ's last remaining operational swingbridge.
The original bridge was built in 1928, under the lead of the Main Highways Board after negotiations over its construction started in 1911, and planning begun in 1922. It was one of the largest such works of its time, with 23 spans and advanced deep piling for the soft ground of the river bed.
It replaced the barges and ferries which had until then served to cross the Waihou River, connected Thames to the newly drained dairy farming grounds of the Hauraki Plains, and was reckoned to have made a big difference to the local district, having marked the local shift from river transport to road transport becoming dominant, and to Thames moving from a mining town towards a farming service community. It was also considered a project typical of the time and of New Zealand Prime Minister Gordon Coates quest to develop the rural economy.
Up to the 1960s, traffic used the passing bays, but after angry confrontations between motorists had become more common, lights were installed. Until that time, the bridge had still sometimes used for herding of livestock, but soon after the signalisation, further increasing traffic queues began causing calls for a replacement bridge. In late 2009, a webcam was installed to allow online checking of queue lengths during the holiday periods, a feature that in New Zealand had so far been limited to urban areas.
Hub AI
Kopu Bridge AI simulator
(@Kopu Bridge_simulator)
Kopu Bridge
The Historic Kopu Bridge (originally Hauraki Bridge and sometimes Waihou River Bridge) is a single-lane swing bridge that spans the Waihou River, near its emergence into the Firth of Thames in the Thames-Coromandel District of New Zealand's North Island. The bridge was completed in 1928 and was part of State Highway 25. The swinging span in the middle of the bridge is 43 metres long and with an overall length of 463 metres, the bridge was the longest and oldest single lane bridge within the state highway network. It is also New Zealand's only remaining operational swing bridge.
As the first available crossing of the Waihou River and the main link between the Hauraki Plains and Coromandel Peninsula, it sees a lot of traffic, especially during holidays. Due to a gradual increase in the traffic between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, by the early 1990s the bridge became the most heavily used single lane bridge in the country,[citation needed] with traffic volumes of an average of 9,000 vehicles per day. Traffic flow over the bridge was controlled by traffic lights and the bridge was notorious for queues which formed during peak times such as holiday weekends, when three hours delay were common.
Rarely used as boat traffic declined (especially for shipping use, with the river once navigable all the way up to the town of Paeroa) in the latter years before it was closed to traffic, the swing span could still be opened to provide a 15.3 m wide channel to passing vessels.
The bridge is the only surviving road bridge of the swing span type in the country and Heritage New Zealand lists the bridge as a Category 1 historic place, while it is also on the IPENZ Engineering Heritage Register.
In December 2011 a new two-lane bridge opened directly to the south of the old bridge. The old bridge remains under active threat of demolition. However a local group, the Historic Kopu Bridge Society has been working since 2011 to retain the bridge into community ownership, so that it may remain as a pedestrian and cycleway and NZ's last remaining operational swingbridge.
The original bridge was built in 1928, under the lead of the Main Highways Board after negotiations over its construction started in 1911, and planning begun in 1922. It was one of the largest such works of its time, with 23 spans and advanced deep piling for the soft ground of the river bed.
It replaced the barges and ferries which had until then served to cross the Waihou River, connected Thames to the newly drained dairy farming grounds of the Hauraki Plains, and was reckoned to have made a big difference to the local district, having marked the local shift from river transport to road transport becoming dominant, and to Thames moving from a mining town towards a farming service community. It was also considered a project typical of the time and of New Zealand Prime Minister Gordon Coates quest to develop the rural economy.
Up to the 1960s, traffic used the passing bays, but after angry confrontations between motorists had become more common, lights were installed. Until that time, the bridge had still sometimes used for herding of livestock, but soon after the signalisation, further increasing traffic queues began causing calls for a replacement bridge. In late 2009, a webcam was installed to allow online checking of queue lengths during the holiday periods, a feature that in New Zealand had so far been limited to urban areas.