Māngere Bridge boat ramp get much-needed attention2 min read

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The all-tide boat ramp at Māngere Bridge will be maintained more regularly from now on, in a new plan with Auckland Council, where dredging will take place three times a year to remove mud build-up.

Ramp user, Natalie Waite, is pleased action has finally been taken, after advocating to the council for nearly two years. She says she’s surprised no one has been seriously hurt, or worse, with boats getting stuck in the mud on the ramp, and cars and trailers straining to get them out.

“My partner lives in Māngere Bridge and uses the ramp, and when the mud builds up, you can’t use it. It’s a huge inconvenience.”

Natalie says she when her father-in-law’s boat broke down on the Manukau Harbour, the Coastguard wasn’t able to get his vessel all back to the ramp, due to the mud build up.  “I’m worried that if someone needed to launch in an emergency they wouldn’t be able to.”

The first dredging took place on 27th October and the maintenance plan will also include flushing of the pontoons and water-blasting of the boat ramp. “A budget has now been allocated to dredge the all-tide boat ramp on Coronation Road, Māngere Bridge, which will enable us to carry out scheduled dredging three times a year,” says Auckland Council area operations manager, Bill Teaukura.

“The most recent dredging of the ramp was in December 2021, which was undertaken with unallocated budget. Undertaking dredging three times a year will help manage the build-up of silt below the bottom end of the concrete ramp and will form part of the existing maintenance plan,” say Bill.

 

Natalie says the maintenance plan is great for now, but in the long run would like council engineers to look at the pole wall, which she says exacerbates the mud build-up on the ramp.

 

 

(Māngere Bridge boat ramp being dredged in December 2021)