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Solid Energy to help fund rebuilding of key Spring Creek mine access bridge
15 December 2004 - Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd is to help fund a long rail bridge which will handle large volumes of coal from the underground Spring Creek coal mine on the West Coast of the South Island.
An agreement has been reached between the new government owned rail network provider, New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC), and Solid Energy to construct a new Cobden rail bridge across the Grey River near Greymouth.
The Spring Creek mine will approach full production over the coming year. Building of the new $15 million bridge, just upstream from the 110 year old Cobden bridge in Greymouth, is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks using contractor Smithbridge Ltd.
Solid Energy will pay for construction of the new bridge through an annual charge over a 30-year period. Solid Energy says it is currently the sole user of the rail bridge, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
The bridge is the first capital investment project announced by NZRC since the rail network was brought back into public ownership in July 2004 and separated from the privately-owned rail transport company Toll Holdings Ltd.
Alignment of the new 285-metre long concrete bridge will take the rail route away from the middle of Greymouth as at present, connecting more directly with the line across the Southern Alps to the Lyttelton port, near Christchurch. Up to two trains a day will rail coal to Lyttelton for export.
Trains will still be able to run to the Port of Greymouth if facilities are built at the port to accommodate rail access.
The bridge which will be supported by 10 piers in the riverbed is expected to be completed in early 2006. Once the new rail bridge is completed, the old wooden bridge, registered as a Category II Historic Place under the 1993 Historic Places Act, will be dismantled and removed. The old piers from the former road bridge will be removed at the same time. A section of the wooden rail bridge will be rebuilt in a separate location to fulfil an agreement with the historic places trust.
Solid Energy chief operating officer, Barry Bragg, said the new modern structure will have capacity for increasing volumes of coal from Spring Creek Mine. “The mine will approach full production over the coming year and it is very important for its long term viability that we have a reliable transport system in place to deliver our coal to our customers,” he said.
NZRC chief operating officer, William Peet, said his company looks forward to working w
