The bridge across the Clutha river in Alexandra will have nearly $700,000 spent on it as part of a strengthening project by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Because the bridge is part of the state highway network it falls under the jurisdiction of the agency rather than the Central Otago district council.
More steel beams will be added to the bridges structure to make it suitable for use by heavier vehicles including 50-tonne plus HPMV trucks. Damage caused by pigeons will also be cleaned up during this time, if possible says the agency.
NZTA Otago senior network manager John Jarvis told the Otago Daily Times, that there weren’t any present safety or strength issues with the bridge, and it wasn’t being used by 50-tonne trucks at the moment.
Jarvis commented that tenders close on February 10, and he hoped that work would get underway in early March and would be completed by the end of June.
Most of the work would be done underneath the bridge and Jarvis says there will be some disruption to traffic while this is carried out.
“Large steel beams will have to be put in underneath and will have to be welded, and while that is being done there is likely to be single-lane traffic,” he says.
Jarvis says that work on the Gentle Annie and Kawarau Victoria bridges, on State Highway 6 between Cromwell and Queenstown is also about to start.
