again in 2017. A 2018 plan provides for strengthened stopbanks and diversion ponds. The scheme works includes the following: Main river and tributary channel enlargement and clearing work, 170 km of stopbanks, 59 floodgates and 32 pump stations The scheme provides the following levels of service: 100-year protection from tidal flooding with freeboard, 50-year protection from Piako River flooding with freeboard Piako River Bridge (Ngatea) The original Piako River Bridge was built in Ngatea and opened in 1917. In the earliest days all transport or access to and from the land was either by sea, river or canal, but with the first roads being developed, it was essential that a bridge be built over the Piako River so it could become a main route between Auckland and Tauranga. Considerable work has gone into restoring the banks of the river, as in winter it is the direct cause of flooding through the low-lying Hauraki Plains. References Rivers of Waikato Rivers of New Zealand Firth of Thames Hauraki Gulf catchment