Waiho River bridge repairs delayed as more rain forecast for flood-damaged West Coast

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

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

Rain has delayed work to rebuild a the crucial bridge over the Waiho River, near Franz Josef, and closed State Highway 6 near Haast due to a washout.

Up to 200 millimetres of rain is forecast for Westland, which is still recovering from a damaging downpour.

More than 500mm of rain fell in some places in late-March, leading to the Waiho River bridge washing away, an old rubbish dump at Fox being breached by the raging Fox River, and a state of emergency being called for a flooded Westland.

Work to rebuild the Waiho River bridge was put on hold by heavy rain causing the river to rise.

Recovery efforts are ongoing. The Waiho River bridge was expected to be replaced by Friday, reconnecting the route to the south of the tourism-driven Franz Josef village, but the latest rain had delayed the reopened by at least a day.

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State Highway 6 closed on Wednesday south of Haast due to a washout.

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More rain is on the way for the West Coast, which is still recovering from a heavy flood in March.

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State Highway 6, near Diana Falls south of Haast, was closed on Wednesday afternoon due to a washout at the site of an old slip. It would remain closed overnight and an update was not expected until about 9am on Thursday.

Flood waters took out a section of the Waiho River bridge near Fox Glacier in March.

MetService meteorologist Nicole Ranger said the forecast was for up to 200mm of rain on the West Coast between midnight Tuesday and midnight Wednesday.

The forecast rainfall was 'nowhere near as high' as what the West Coast got in the March storm, she said.

The Waiho River bridge will now reopen during the weekend, not on Friday as earlier hoped.

NZ Transport Agency West Coast maintenance contract manager Moira Whinham said teams worked hard to keep the Waiho bridge project on track, but rapidly rising river levels on Wednesday had delayed Friday's planned reopening. It would now reopen during the weekend, with the day and time to be confirmed later this week.

The bridge structure was successfully rolled across the bridge piers to the north bank on Wednesday afternoon, but the flooded river meant it could not be fastened permanently until the river dropped and work could start from the river bed, which would take at least two days.

The old dump at Fox is not expected to be re-breached due to the new rainfall.

The bridge had to be jacked, rocking rollers removed, new permanent bearings installed, and the whole structure safely fastened in place. The approaches also needed to be completed once the bridge was positioned.

Westland mayor Bruce Smith said the district council was keeping a close eye on the rainfall and river levels and was ready to respond if needed.

'It's definitely raincoats, but I don't think it's gumboots.'

He said he did not yet know if the rain would force a halt on any of the recovery work that was under way.

The rainfall was 'pretty normal' for the West Coast but the flood defences, particularly in Franz Josef, had been weakened.

Machinery is on site to rebuild the Milton wall – a flood bank that protects about 80 people who live south of the Waiho River.

Smith said the council had moved a resolution to immediately rebuild the wall, which had been there since 1982 but had been about 80 per cent washed away in the March flooding.

He was confident the rubbish dump near the Fox River had been resealed and there was no risk of more rubbish being pulled out by the latest rainfall.

Smith said Westland had a small rating base but made a large contribution to the economy through tourism, and it was time for the Government to put some of that money back for the recovery.