7. Question No. 7—TransportSHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 7—Transport7. SHANAN HALBERT (Labour—Northcote) to the Minister of Transport: What recent reports has he seen regarding the roll-out of emergency Bailey bridges following Cyclone Gabrielle?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): The Government has deployed and is looking to deploy Bailey bridges across 10 sites in the North Island to reconnect isolated communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods. Bailey bridges have already been installed at Rangitopuni Stream in Riverhead Raparapahoe Stream in Te Puke and Opoti Bridge in Wairoa. Design work and site preparation is under way for Bailey bridges to be installed at Rissington Bridge and Waikare River Bridge in Hastings and Hikuwai No. 1 on State Highway 35 in Tai Rāwhiti. We'll continue to work with local councils to identify where Bailey bridges could helpfully restore essential transportation links and are currently assessing the suitability of sites in Hawke's Bay and Tai Rāwhiti for further Bailey bridges. The quick roll-out of these Bailey bridges has been enabled by the dedicated work of contractors on the front lines as well as the Government's $250 million top-up to the National Land Transport Fund. I want to thank all of the road workers engineers and support staff who have been on the ground to get these critical connections restored for our communities.Shanan Halbert: Are there enough bridges in the country to meet the needs of affected communities?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Yes there are. We have a number of bridges in reserve and will look to source more from overseas if required. Waka Kotahi are also still working through suitability assessments for potential sites to determine how many additional bridges and equipment may be needed depending on individual site conditions.Shanan Halbert: Where Bailey bridges aren't the right solution for restoring a transport link what other tools are available to reconnect communities?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Bailey bridges are only one of the tools that we're using to reconnect communities in the short term. They're not always the right solution. That's why Waka Kotahi are working through a range of other options to help restore those connections including diversion through private property providing temporary single-lane access and using speed or weight restrictions on existing bridges as an interim measure. As we work through suitability assessments we'll have a clearer idea of what resources are best suited to meet community needs and at all times we're working closely with local communities and local councils to prioritise their needs as we restore access.Shanan Halbert: How does the roll-out of Bailey bridges figure in the Government's broader plan for repairing transport networks in the response to the cyclone?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The scale of the damage in the rebuild means that it will take some time so we're tackling the rebuild in three stages. The first stage and our very top priority right now is getting lifeline roads open and reconnecting isolated communities. Once we're confident all communities are reconnected and lifeline routes are open we'll move on to the second stage of the rebuild. This stage will be focused on getting more permanent solutions in place for affected areas. The final stage of the rebuild will be adding resilience into our transport network. We need our infrastructure to endure in an era of dramatic climate change and after seeing the impact of the last few weeks on our transport network we know there's more work to do to ensure that it's up to that challenge.