Residents of a rural road in Te Puke are relieved their access will be restored after a bridge was washed out.

A bridge over Raparapahoe Stream on No 4 Road washed out on Sunday morning with the 30 properties above it affected.

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council will begin work on Monday February 6 to install a single lane Bailey bridge.

The portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge should be open for use on February 9 says council civil defence controller Peter Watson.

Residents have access for essential travel through a private orchard down a gravel road and across an alternative bridge to Manoeka Road.

Watson says the bridge is not rated for heavy traffic and the council is keeping an eye on the private accessway's condition.

'Council is stockpiling maintenance metal and have a crew out there today fixing the storm damage on the unsealed Manoeka Road section.

'We anticipate the temporary Bailey bridge being in place until a permanent structure can be built. This is likely to be more than six months.

'We're working as fast as we can to reinstate some more solid transport options that will reduce the disruption this has caused these residents.”

Resident Steve McManaway says the Bailey bridge will be fantastic.

He owns several properties on the road and has a 'substantial amount of kiwifruit” that will need to be picked in around 60 days' time.

'That gives us a little bit of comfort to know that they've prioritised it.

'We're going to get a Bailey bridge, we're going to get our fruit picked. So there is a certain amount of relief.”

Western Bay of Plenty mayor James Denyer, deputy mayor John Scrimgeour and the council's transport manager met with the residents on Monday to discuss options for access.

Denyer says there are one million trays of kiwifruit to come off the affected properties.

It would have had 'quite a big economic impact” if it didn't happen he says.

The council is still unsure if the affected road would be able to take anything more than a truck, not a truck and trailer, due to the turning radius at either end of the bridge – not the loading on the bridge, says Watson.

McManaway says if truck and trailer access was not available it was 'not ideal but it's better than having no options at all”.

Around 1 million trays of kiwifruit will be ready for picking from orchards on No 4 Road in the next two months. File photo/SunLive.

Fellow resident Tane Howe praised the council for working quickly and says they had been 'absolutely amazing”.

Howe says the council organised extra gravel for the private accessway so it was now suitable for cars. Before it was slippery and more like a 4-wheel drive track he says.

'To go from losing a bridge on Sunday … now on Wednesday to find out that we're going to have a bridge in a couple of weeks is pretty amazing”

Howe discovered the bridge was out around 6am on Sunday morning on his way to pick up his daughter.

'It was a bit of a shock. You don't expect your bridge to be gone. I didn't quite believe it, even looking at it.”

The neighbours quickly rallied to get permission to use the private road says Howe.

Despite the inconvenience of the washout, a positive is the neighbours are working together and watching out for one another he says.

'It's brought us together like a little bit of a community.”

The region was still under a red heavy rainfall warning until 9pm Wednesday.

Some of the No 4 Road community are nervous about the impending rain, especially as the private bridge was 'not the most sturdy”, says Howe.

'There's definitely a few nervous people about this rain coming.

'There is a little bit of nerves around whether that bridge stays intact or not over this next heavy rain.”

Howe stocked up at the supermarket and bought extra water in case they did become stuck at home.

'We've [the residents] come up with a bit of a contingency plan, how to get fresh water.”

They could use water from one of the neighbour's bores if needed, he says.

As for the school children starting back this week, Watson says the council has been in contact with the local school bus company to discuss alternative routes.

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