Now consigned to history as of 14th November 2020.
After being replaced by new bridges across the 10km long Moutoa floodway and the Manawatu River, a new section of SH1 which opened in February 2020, the aging Whirokino trestle Bridge was finally all demolished in November 2020 when the last bit of the bridge was removed over the period 9th-14th November.
The Whirokino Trestle Bridge bridge opened on 17th April 1939.
The area that the trestle bridge had been built on is a swampland that can lead to flooding from the Manawatū River; it was the main reason for making the bridge in hopes the floods cannot reach the bridge.
A feature of the iconic trestle bridge was a cycleway that was built after long-distance cyclist Ken Everett died when he was hit by a truck while cycling across the trestle in 1997.
Photo: Foxton Historical Society
MEMORIES AMONG WHIROKINO TRESTLE BRIDGE RUBBLE
Stuff, June 20, 2020
Almost a century after it was completed, a Manawatū family have gathered to say their farewells to the ageing Whirokino Trestle bridge and recall how an Australian hat became entangled in its history.
With the new Manawatū River Bridge and Whirokino Trestle opening earlier this year, work has now started to deconstruct the old Whirokino Trestle, which had reached the end of its structural life.
Australian immigrant Wilfred Taylor was one of many men who built the original bridge, between Foxton and Levin, during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
His daughter Fay Barton and granddaughter Jo Burney visited the site to see it one last time and reminisce about Taylor’s strong connection to the Manawatū landmark.
“My mother came out as an almost-3-year-old with my grandfather and great-grandfather during the Depression looking for work, and this was the job they landed on,” Burnley said.
“This bridge has always been known to us as Granddad’s bridge. Although he would correct you and say: ‘It’s a trestle. It is not a bridge.’”
Somewhere beneath them, among the tangled cables, twisted steel and dusty piles of rubble, are the remnants of Taylor’s prized hat.
“When he came over from Bendigo his mother gifted him a hat, which he wore diligently until his kiwi workmates said: ‘You can’t be wearing that.’
"And they nailed it to one of the pillars they were pouring and poured concrete all over it,” Burney said.
It was a connection that would be maintained throughout Taylor’s life, and even after it.
“When he passed, my mother and her sisters couldn’t decide where to put his ashes. After 10 years in my walk-in wardrobe, they decided that he was connected with this bridge and coming to Foxton, [so] why don’t we pop him under here?”
Barton said Australia had no great connection to him.
“This was the obvious spot. Because we’re all Australian-born, the three of us who came over, Foxton was our first connection.”
The New Zealand Transport Agency says the new structure is stronger, safer and eliminates the need for heavy vehicles to take a lengthy detour.
Despite its age and condition, project manager Glen Prince said the site team was impressed at the level of engineering used on the old structure.
“Back in the 1930s we still needed our bridges to stand up and we’ve got structures well over 100 years old which are still standing, so it’s a testament to those who were building them all those years ago.”
Taylor’s family said he would have loved to see the impressive new bridge and trestle, spanning the river and stretching across the floodplain.
His hat may be long gone, but the family’s connection to this special place remains.
For his daughter, Barton, this last trip to where her father had spent so much time was a special one.
“Family means quite a lot to me. I don’t usually get emotional, but that’s why.
“It’s the last bit of my father.”
NEW STATE HIGHWAY 1 BRIDGES BETWEEN LEVIN AND FOXTON OPEN FOR USE
Stuff, February 27 2020
The new State Highway 1 Whirokino Trestle and Manawatū River Bridge between Levin and Foxton are open to traffic.
Motorists have been waiting for the bridges since 2016, when the New Zealand Transport Agency announced the old ones would be replaced, and construction started in 2017.
Agency regional transport systems manager Ross l’Anson said traffic was switched from the old alignment to the new bridges on Thursday [27/2/2020].
"We know how eager the community has been to see it open and it’ll be great to see people now getting to use it."
Traffic management and reduced speed limits would remain in place while final construction work continued at the site, just south of Foxton.
Southbound traffic wanting to use Whirokino or Matakarapa roads can follow the posted detour, which will loop them back over the old Manawatū River Bridge.
OPENING OF WHIROKINO TRESTLE AND MANAWATU RIVER BRIDGE ADDS TRAFFIC TO CONGESTED HIGHWAY
RNZ, 4 March 2020
The opening of two long-anticipated bridges north of Wellington has caused major delays for a stretch of State Highway 1 already plagued by traffic snarl-ups.
Locals are critical of the way the $70 million project between Levin and Foxton, which replaces ageing infrastructure, has been rolled out.
It was always a white-knuckle section of the highway – 600m of narrow bridge south of Foxton in a 100km/h zone.
Construction of the new Whirokino Trestle and Manawatū River Bridge – which are wider and sport a median safety barrier – has been underway for nearly three years.
But anticipation turned to frustration after the new structures opened on Thursday causing long delays.
Simon Rowe, from local poultry producer Turk’s, said the queues stretched more than 2km on Thursday and even further on Friday.
He said people were stuck in traffic for up to an hour-and-a-half for what should be a 20-minute trip between Levin and Foxton.
Sara-Jane Sowden, from the Bulls information centre, said the delays had knock-on effects for travellers outside the district.
"It holds up other … connecting buses and the poor guys have this time that they can never catch up on through the day."
These delays come on top of hold-ups caused by other large roading developments in the region, including the massive Transmission Gully project.
Sowden said she now told travellers to allow an extra hour-and-a-half to get from Bulls to Wellington.
"When we tell people that are travelling down connecting with the ferry we say … ‘you can’t rely on getting there in two-and-a-half hours. You’re going to have to allow … four hours these days’."
Rowe said communication from the contractor had been dire, with signs telling people to expect delays after the bridges opened not placed far enough from the site to allow people to take a detour to avoid the area.
Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden said the Transport Agency underestimated how much switching to the new bridges – and the traffic management needed to do the finishing touches – would affect travel times.
"There needs to be some coordination between the contractors and the NZTA to make sure that a lot of those delays are not too major."
Transport Agency regional transport systems manager Ross I’Anson said the stop/go traffic management was always going to be needed while the "tie-in" work to connect the bridges to the existing State Highway was done.
But he said the delays were unacceptable and communication could have been better.
"I believe what happened the other day was traffic built up much quicker than we expected."
I’Anson said they were now detouring southbound traffic through Shannon when necessary, which would reduce delay times.
He said this lot of tie-in work would take about five weeks to complete – with the additional couple of weeks of work needed to finish the job unlikely to cause the same types of delays.
The Transport Agency said the stop/go traffic management would typically operate between 7am and 6pm while the construction works were completed, with both lanes open outside peak hour.
It said the southbound detour would operate if delays get up to 20 minutes long..
Posted by Foxton96 on 2020-11-15 23:46:57
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