Borrowing money, establishing a targeted rate and lobbying government for more support were three suggestions made yesterday (Wednesday June 1) as possible ways to fill a huge funding gap in fixing Central Otago’s aging bridge network.

The state of the district’s bridges made sobering reading for Central Otago District councillors at their monthly meeting, with four bridges closed, eight soon requiring closure or replacement, and 17 needing “priority repairs”.

While costs had not yet been fully assessed, the huge amount of work required was beyond the scope of what the Central Otago District Council (CODC) was currently set up to deal with, the meeting heard.

Councillor Nigel McKinlay emphasised that he believed the scale of investment was well outside CODC’s rating capability and the government needed to be made aware of this. 

The frustrations of residents in the Maniototo who had suffered inconvenience for the past 18 months after damaged bridges were closed was acknowledged by council. Much of this was based on lack of communication, the meeting heard, rather than the length of time for solutions to be found.

Councillor Tracy Paterson 

“We need to be upfront with our community,” Councillor Tracy Paterson said, “and they are going to have to trust that we are moving forward.”

Around half the cost of infrastructure work such as bridge building was funded by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency(NZTA) and half by council.

Applications had to be made every three years to the agency with specific project requests. 

Because large projects were dependent on NZTA funding, residents (such as those who used the Scott Lane Bridge before it washed away in a flood in January 2021) will likely have to continue to ford the Kyeburn River or take a 14km detour to get to their homes and farms, at least until the next funding round. 

NZTA funding is allocated for a three-year period, and applications are due in mid-2023 for funding provided from 1 July, 2024.

Costings for individual bridge repairs or replacements were not outlined as more information was needed from engineering inspections to allow council to prioritise tasks.

The engineering inspections already completed to gather the information presented yesterday had cost around $168,000.

The Little Valley Bridge over the Manuherikia River was given as an example, however, to illustrate potential costs.

“The timber deck requires replacing, and cost estimates that have been received for this are between $900,000 and $1.9 million for the decking only.

Significant component replacement may not be economically prudent,” the report stated.

CODC infrastructure services executive manager Julie Muir said until all information was gathered it would not be known how best to tackle the issues.

It did not make sense to replace components such as decking then to later find other parts supporting the decking were coming due for repair, she said.

The council yesterday approved a swathe of actions including the appointment of a dedicated bridge project manager, instructions to staff to investigate the installation of a temporary Bailey bridge on Maniototo Road at the Halls Ford crossing, engagement of engineers to complete inspections and Fulton Hogan Ltd to begin planning work and cost estimates.

It was agreed that no further bridge replacements be undertaken until a prioritised list of work, with implications of deferral for each structure, was available for council to consider in February next year.