Two men were arrested in Waikato on Thursday after police interrupted an attempt to strip copper wiring from the historic Kopu Bridge.
Officers on routine patrol along State Highway 25 in Kopu, near Thames, spotted a vehicle at approximately 6 p.m. belonging to an individual known for scrap metal interest, according to Waikato Police. Hearing loud “banging, smashing, and crunching” from beneath the 98-year-old structure, the officers investigated the noise coming from the Waihou River crossing.
Recognizing that the sounds were abnormal, Inspector Mike Henwood stated, “You don’t need to be a bridge expert to know those sounds aren’t normal.” The suspects spent nearly an hour navigating the framework beneath the bridge before encountering police.
“After nearly an hour, the offenders gradually worked their way back along the girders and found police waiting for them,” said Inspector Mike Henwood. Officers subsequently seized the vehicle used to transport the stolen items.
The heritage-listed central swing-span bridge opened in 1928 and remained active until the completion of a modern two-lane crossing in December 2011. Henwood said that the suspects broke through wooden elements on the girders to reach the internal cabling.
“It wasn’t scrap metal before they got to it, but they’ve smashed through wood on the girders to access the wires and caused a decent amount of carnage,” Henwood said.
Police emphasized that the material destruction vastly exceeded any financial return the thieves could have achieved through scrap sales. “This offending is especially frustrating because the damage that’s caused far outweighs the few dollars they would have made if we hadn’t stopped them,” Henwood said.
The theft of scrap metal, particularly copper, has been described by Lord Faulkner of Worcester as a crime that has reached “epidemic proportions.” According to the Association of Chief Police Officers’ 2010 estimate, such thefts cost the UK economy £770m annually. The problem involves the routine theft of railway signalling wire, statues, war memorials, and electricity power lines, causing public inconvenience and threats to life.
In the UK, signalling cable theft alone resulted in 16,000 hours of passenger delays and £43m in industry costs over a three-year period. Lord Faulkner has advocated for legislative reform, including the prohibition of cash transactions for scrap and the implementation of a licensing system to replace existing registration.
Two Thames men, aged 42 and 56, face joint charges of theft and wilful damage. The 42-year-old man was scheduled to appear in the Hamilton District Court, while the 56-year-old man is scheduled to appear in the Thames District Court on November 17.