Whitiora Bridge

About

Whitiora Bridge is a prestressed concrete box girder bridge in Hamilton, New Zealand, spanning the Waikato River. It cost $2.35m, or $3.4m including the approach roads, and was opened at the start of a weekend of Centennial celebrations, on 11 February 1978, by representatives of Māori, Government and City, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Venn Young and Ross Jansen. Whitiora Bridge was also a name once used for the Victoria St bridge over the Waitawhiriwhiri Stream, just to the north in Whitiora.

A 1931 study looked at four possible bridges between the current Whitiora and Claudelands bridges, ranging in length from 430 ft (130 m) to 540 ft (160 m). The plans were shelved in 1933 when it was agreed to contribute 25% of the Fairfield Bridge cost. The 1969 Hamilton Transportation Study proposed the bridge, which was designed by Murray North Partners (who also designed Pukete sewer bridge and Rangiriri bridge) and built by Rope Construction Ltd (who also built Rakaia Bridge).

It is on Taupō pumice alluvium and carries Boundary Rd at a 25 degree skew over the river and River Rd. At 260 m (850 ft), that makes it significantly longer than 133 m (436 ft) Claudelands, or 139 m (456 ft) Fairfield, but...