Over-dimension vehicles will need to take another route as New Zealand’s longest road bridge is set for repairs.
Mid Canterbury’s 1.7km-long Rakaia River Bridge on State Highway 1 will be under maintenance for four days from December 14 to 17.
As well as fixing damage to the side panels from crashes, other repairs include an expansion joint, asphalt surfacing and smoothing repairs at the bridge north abutment where it connects to the highway.
Several repair teams will be working at the same time on the bridge to help reduce delays for road users.
“A pilot vehicle will guide traffic over the bridge at the scheduled openings at the top of each hour,” NZ Transport Agency maintenance contract manager Barry Stratton says.
“If we can manage more people across within the hour and get the work done safely, we will do so.”
The freight industry has been consulted on travel restrictions. The detour via SH73 (Darfield road) and SH77 (Rakaia Gorge) is about 30 to 40 minutes longer.
The bridge was opened in 1939 and replaced an earlier combined road and rail bridge from 1873.
