Client: ONTRACK

Status: Completed 2007

The Makatote railway viaduct is a New Zealand railway icon. The original bridge was built in 1908, and is New Zealand’s third highest railway viaduct, standing nearly 80 metres above the Makatote riverbed in the Central North Island.

Novare collaborated on this project to ensure the viaduct was in good shape to celebrate its centenary. Suffering many environmental and technical challenges, such as land instability and erosion, the bridge needed to be strengthened and a new walkway was to be added.

Novare’s pragmatic and innovative approach allowed for a detailed design to be formed which achieved the required level of structural robustness and life expectancy, whilst also addressing the very difficult site conditions. The project was a great success, being completed on time and within budget, maintaining a key piece of New Zealand’s transport infrastructure.