Ashburton Bridge closed for at least a few days after ‘significant damage’

Engineers have confirmed that there is significant damage to the Ashburton Bridge and it will be closed for at least a few days.

Highway 1 State Bridge across the Ashburton River closed at 6.50am on Tuesday morning after a driver noticed it was crashing while traveling across the bridge.

Some falls can be seen from the northern end of the bridge.

Passengers are advised not to queue at the bridge as travel across was not possible.

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No alternative route was available, but Ashburton County Council said contractors were working on it.

Sam Millar, owner of Des Millar Construction, who travels over the Ashburton Bridge every day, said he could feel a noticeable drop about 50 feet across the bridge when he crossed it at 6.45am on Tuesday.

At first I asked if I was really feeling it or just dreaming things up, but of course shortly after coming to the bridge you can feel that little lump.

Millar said he was concerned about how long the bridge would close and was concerned about staff not being able to return to Ashburton.

Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said water in the Ashburton River had entered the bridge piles, causing a fall in the piles.

“The bridge has fallen and you can visually see that part of the bridge has been thrown about four to six inches.”

Engineers would evaluate the bridge to see what was required to fix it.

What will disappoint is the amount of water that is still in the river, they cannot get into the river bed to fix the foundations with the amount of water that is there at the moment. “But at the good point, the river continues to recede.”

The river was currently at 400 cubic meters, from 1400m3 on Monday. The average is 10m3.

The closure of the bridge has divided the city and cut off part of the South Island. Staff were working hard to clear a road by Tuesday evening to get south of Ashburton.

Brown said he had a phone call with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday morning.

She said ‘whatever you need, just tell me’.

“I said at the moment, now, our needs have been met. But, as the days go by, it will become safer for what we need.”

Long-term funding will be sought for infrastructure and facilitation for farmers, Brown said.

Before the damage to the Brown Bridge was estimated to cost tens of millions, he now expects it to be double or triple that.

It would be a few days before work on the bridge began, he said.

Residents should not worry about the closure, he said.

“Stores have a lot of food in them, when we get the next street open tonight they will be able to refill, so there is no need for people to go to supermarkets and buy more than they need, just buy what you is needed, and leaves something for someone else. “

There were other roads further inland and those bridges were fine, but the roads leading up to them were not, he said.

The council had been looking for a second bridge across the river for the past 15 years, Brown said.

A second bridge is expected to be built in 2025.

The Waka Kotahi NZ Transportation Agency had not considered a second bridge necessary until then because that was when it was predicted that a single bridge would be overloaded too much.

Rivers across the district were receding and streams were falling this morning.

Ashburton was flowing at 470m3 and during its peak was 1448m3. The average is 10m3.

At 7 a.m., the Civil Defense advised that there was no need for Ashburton residents to prepare for the evacuation, as the threat had passed.

Residents on the outskirts of Allenton, Netherby and Racecourse Rd were previously advised to prepare for evacuation in the event that Ashburton River stops were broken.

Residents can now be relocated as there is no longer a need to prepare for evacuation.

Brown said most of the damage across the county was on rural roads and farmland.

He was not sure how many houses were damaged by water, but thought there were less than 10.

People were now focused on cleaning up. Brown said he was grateful to have accepted Armys’ voluntary student offer to help.