Bailey bridge book

[Rob Beale]

My region was badly hit by Cyclone Bola in March 1988. The East Coast region was devastated with major erosion and the debris entering the rivers destroyed a number of permanent bridges. In the following years the sediment built up the river beds, so that many bridges became buried.

The Raparapariki Bridge (popularly named the Rip bridge) was buried over a period of five years, but a new crossing was needed to allow logging of mature radiata pine plantation forests. The double single chord reinforced Bailey was installed in the mid 1990s and is over 100m long, with intermediate piers of steel frames. It has running planks in the wheel paths to reduce wear over the chesses.
It was meant to be replaced after 10 years, but is still there today, and is inspected and maintained regularly. It has carried innumerable 44 ton logging truck and trailer combinations, and no doubt a few overloads have snuck over with diggers and dozers aboard.

The chord reinforcement sections can be seen above and below the side panels.

Rob