27 February 2024:

The newly opened Kāeo Bridge shows it can take a community to raise a bridge. In addition to the community created on site by way of the 50/50 JV between Fulton Hogan Civil and Fulton Hogan Northland, the project involved the community in various other ways.

This included local schools propagating and growing native plants for the landscaping, an initiative that won the project a Fulton Hogan 2023 Good Work Award. Fulton Hogan board members also felt the community warmth first hand, when kaitiaki fed them on locally caught koura (crayfish) during a visit late last year.

Technically speaking, a particular feature of the project is the ‘splay’ in span 4, the entry point to the roundabout built with nine bespoke super tee girders from Fulton Hogan precast. Each went down without a hitch.  The 108m bridge is one of a three-bridge contract Fulton Hogan has with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency in Northland.

The bridge was officially opened on Saturday, 25 February.