MATAKANA CYCLEWAY: DELIVERING A BRIDGE THAT WORKS FOR BOTH AUCKLAND TRANSPORT AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

The Matakana Community Group and the Matakana Coast Trails Trust had constructed a cycleway from Omaha/ Point Wells to Matakana Village which ended at the end of the Leigh Road Bridge. In order to cross into the Matakana Village, pedestrians and cyclists were sharing the traffic lanes with regular cars and heavy commercial vehicles.

The Matakana Community Group initially engaged Structure Design to review options for alternative access routes in and out of Matakana Village. Once Auckland Transport were involved, they engaged Structure Design to provide the structural engineering services for this project.

​

We helped to generate a bridge profile that suited both Auckland Transport and the Matakana Community Group’s needs. Once the bridge profile was finalised after a few design iterations, we were tasked to provide a sustainable and innovative solution to cross the Matakana River.

​

Benefits of having us on the team:

​

• The local community and Auckland Transport had different requirements so we worked with all stakeholders at joint meetings to agree how the bridge should work and look before it was designed.

• From the outset there was an emphasis on using timber as the main bridge element. We worked alongside Edifice Contracts Ltd, who were responsible for the design and construction of the 52m spanning Glulam bridge member. We designed the supports along the length of the bridge. It is supported at four locations. The majority of the supports are timber poles bored into the banks of the river, while the internal support is a structural steel truss supported off the existing Leigh Road Bridge, thus leaving the Matakana River undisturbed. This meant local iwi were happy and allowed a simplified design because we didn’t have to design for river-related issues.

• We did all the drawings and, in conjunction with the surveyors, set up construction monitoring. The project went smoothly.

• We provided a solution which worked for both Auckland Transport and the Matakana Community Group in that it provides pedestrians and cyclists safe access into and out of Matakana village without disturbing the river.