Te Rata Bridge

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The Te Rata Bridge was a suspension bridge over the Retaruke River in King Country in New Zealand . On March 22, 1994, two cross beams tore while beekeeper Kenneth Richards was crossing the bridge. He fell 30 meters into the river and died. The event has now become a political issue.

The bridge was built in 1986 for landowners Keith and Margaret Berryman by members of the New Zealand Army. The static calculations were made by Lieutenant John Armstrong.

GW Butcher, a retired civil engineer and soldier, was hired to write a report on the stability of the bridge after the collapse. The twelve-page Butcher Report was completed in 1997. The report sees the cause of the collapse of the bridge on the one hand in the inadequate bracing and on the other hand in the irregular maintenance of the bridge by the owners.

However, the New Zealand Army withheld the report on the pretext that it would undermine military discipline. The report was posted on the Internet against the court order by Berrymans attorney Rob Moodie. The Berrymans were convicted of negligent homicide and have since lost their land due to legal fees.

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Coordinates: 39 ° 6 ′ 46.8 ″  S , 175 ° 5 ′ 45.6 ″  O