Rakaia Bridge

Nice place to have a rest and go for a walk.
Oct 22nd, 2022

It's a concrete road bridge. It goes across a braided shingle river. So most of the time it's mostly shingle river bed you see. It is 1.8 km long or 1 mile & 1 tenth if you're old school or an American. When the river is running from bank to bank it's very impressive. Scarily so sometimes. A safety tip when crossing the bridge. This bridge is very busy, and is so long and has raised sides. So it feels a lot narrower than it is. Some drivers can, as a result, steer their vehicles into the bridge sides/railings as a result. You can see evidence of this in old and new damage to the concrete railings along the bridge. Do take care, keep left and if needed slow down, when on the bridge. If you feel while crossing, that the bridge sides are closing in on you, focus your eyes straight ahead to the vehicle in front or the end of the bridge. And you'll get across ok. And note during early mornings and evenings when the sun is at a low angle in the sky, the sun can shine right into your eyes - or equally - into the eyes of the drivers coming the other way. So when crossing if its daytime use your sun visor to block/minimize the sunlight before getting onto the bridge to avoid the sun strike - it can be quite dangerous to everyone when you can't see the road.
Apr 7th, 2022

See where other vehicles have hit the slatted concrete sides? Carefully drive across the long narrow bridge. Bonus points if your passengers can hold their breath the whole way!
Dec 2nd, 2021

Nearly passed out.
Aug 10th, 2021

(Translated by Google) An interesting, very long and very narrow bridge with oncoming traffic in one lane at a time, it is especially unpleasant when a car drives over it, a truck driver tries to push the car off the road in the middle of the night or at three in the morning, there was even heavy traffic, especially during the day ........... Visibility and braking distance are an important element of traffic, right? This bridge is extremely narrow and very long. 100 km/h here is just as much for the narrow oncoming traffic (in normal places max 80 especially at night, in the rain, in poor visibility), as on the Christchurch motorway 100 km/h is not enough on the double separated safe lane, where there is no persistent oncoming traffic, and it doesn't matter whether it's right- or left-hand traffic. I welcome those truckers who can't drive for cattle, great news, they are not alone. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (The speed limit is X km/h everywhere, as long as one vehicle is running on the roads.) Last but not least, overtaking it is just as safe as going through it at a speed of 100 km/h. In the course of 2013, I cannot speak about the safety around Hokitika on road 6 (between Arahura bridge and Hokitika), where also on the main road, a truck pulled past 9-10-year-old children at a speed of 80-100 km/h, keeping a minimum distance on one of the bridges or narrows in broad daylight on Sunday-Saturday. He had so many very urgent things to do, where there was usually zero traffic even on weekdays, where there was no footpath or other way to get around?! These were not safe cases either! Crash helmet here, visibility vest there! This is, I will underline it more than once, conscious road endangerment at its best, that's exactly what they call it! It happened more than once, as teenagers on bicycles were hit in the Netherlands! I wouldn't call it an adventure under any circumstances! I don't understand where this adventure is included!!!!!! (Original) rdekes igen hossz s roppant keskeny hd egy-egy svban szembejv forgalommal, az ppen igen kellemetlen amikor halad az auts rajta, egy kamionos prblja jjel vagy hajnali hrom rakor az autt letolni a kzepn az trl, mg akkos is volt forgalom, nappal meg plne nagy........... Ugye lt- s fktvolsg mint fontos eleme a kzlekedsnek, ez a hd meg roppant keskeny s igen hossz. 100 km/h sebessg itt pontosan annyira sok a keskeny szembemen forgalomnl (norml helyeken max 80 kiemelten jjel, esben, rossz ltsi viszonyok kztt), mint a Christchurh-i autplyn a 100 km/h sebessg kevs a dupla elvlasztott biztonsgos svon, ahol nincs szembejv tarts forgalom, s totlisan mindegy, hogy jobb avagy baloldali kzlekedsrl van ppen sz. dvlm azokat a kamionosokat, akik marhra nem tudnak vezetni, remek hr nincsenek egyedl. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (A mindenhol X km/h sebessgkorltozs, addig j mg egy szem jrm rohangl az utakon.) Nem utols sorban elzni is ppen annyira biztonsgos rajta, mint 100 km/h sebessgel keresztlmenni rajta. 2013 folymn sem beszlhetek a biztonsgrl Hokitika krnykn a 6-os ton (Arahura bridge s Hokitika kztt), ahol szintn a fton kiskor 9-10 ves gyermekek mellett hzott el kamion 80-100 km/h sebessggel, minimlis oldaltvolsgot tartva valamelyik hdon vagy szkleten fnyes nappal vasrnap-szombaton. Annyi igen srgs teendje volt ppen, ahol ltalban htkznap is nulla az az zr volt a forgalom, ahol nem volt gyalogt vagy egyb lehetsg kitrni?! Ezek akkor sem voltak biztonsgos esetek! Buksisak ide, lthatsgi mellny oda! Ez bizony tudatos alhzom tbbszr is tudatos kzti veszlyeztets a javbl, ezt pontosan ennek szoktk nevezni! Nem is egyszer fordult el, hiszen Hollandiban biciklis tiniket tttek el! Nem neveznm semmilyen esetben kalandnak! Nem rtem, hol szerepel ebben a kaland!!!!!!
May 3rd, 2023