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Waiho Bridge will take longer to reinstate than first thought – NZTA

Saturday, 30 March 2019

Drone footage shows full extent of the damage to the Waiho Bridge, near Franz Josef on the West Coast, in March 2019.

Reinstating a bridge over a West Coast river could take twice as long as initially thought, according to new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) estimates. 

NZTA has revised its timeframe for replacing a bailey bridge over the Waiho River on State Highway 6, near Franz Josef Glacier, which was destroyed when heavy rain flooded the river on Tuesday.

NZTA system manager Pete Connors said the timeframe to replace the bridge was now 14 to 17 days, instead of the originally estimate of just over one week. This could take work through until April 12, ahead of school holidays and Easter.

'Given there is more wet weather forecast for Sunday night through Monday 1 April, combined with a more refined work programme, we have revised our estimates so people have realistic timeframes in order to plan their movements and journeys around the South Island,' Connors said.

**READ MORE:

* Frustration over West Coast bridge collapse as more rain on way

* Coasters on clean-up duty have till Sunday before the rain returns

It will likely take between 14 to 17 days, longer than first thought, to reinstate the Waiho River bridge.
It will likely take between 14 to 17 days, longer than first thought, to reinstate the Waiho River bridge.

* Woman named after being killed in West Coast floodwaters as scale of destruction unfolds**

'We all understand what a critical link the Waiho Bridge is for the West Coast, and we are making every endeavour to shorten the timeframe, if at all possible.'

Connors said when the new single-lane bridge was in place, it would take heavier trucks, not just cars and buses as was originally planned.

Temporary repair work to the Waiho's southern stopbank has been under way this week in anticipation of another 150 millimetres of rain forecast on Sunday and Monday, according to NZTA.

Because of the build-up of material on the riverbed from the flood, it could take two to three months for the stopbank, which protects SH6 and adjoining farm land, to be reinstated to its previous level of protection, Connors said.