Marlborough District Council has confirmed that a temporary Bailey bridge will be installed at Waihopai Māori Ford, until a new bridge can be built.

It will be approximately one month until the Bailey bridge can be transported from Canterbury. The site needs to be prepared first and then the bridge put in place. In the meantime the river bed will be regraded to provide short term fording access for appropriate vehicles.

Mayor John Leggett said it was good news.

“Waihopai Valley residents were pretty shocked to lose their bridge, which also took away their phone line.”

“We’re working as quickly as we practically can to get both a temporary and a permanent solution.”

“However, residents need to know there is quite a bit of pre-work to do first before the Bailey bridge can be installed.”

“We are looking at a month before the Bailey bridge is in place and probably 18 months before we get a new bridge in place.”

“In the meantime, the Marlborough Emergency Management team, Council and Marlborough Roads are here to provide assistance to Waihopai residents.”

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