Whananaki Footbridge re-opens with conditions

Whananaki Footbridge has reopened after temporary repairs, with conditions.

Whangarei District Council has made temporary repairs to the damaged Whananaki Footbridge, but is asking users to only cross the repaired section one at a time.

A pile on the bridge - the longest footbridge in the Southern Hemisphere and part of the Te Araroa Trail which stretches about 3000km from Cape Reinga to Bluff - was damaged in the past few days, forcing the council to close the bridge on yesterday.

The council initially said the bridge would be closed indefinitely while a solution was found.

WDC Parks and Recreation officer Stuart Jackson said consulting engineers Opus went to the bridge on yesterday to assess the damage and today Fulton Hogan carried out temporary repairs.

The contractor constructed a 6-metre long section to go over the damaged part of the bridge and a full repair job would be carried out in the new year, hopefully within the next few weeks.

"We built a bridge over the damaged part of the bridge using 6-metre long planks. The bridge is now open again for people to use, but we ask that they use a bit of common sense. We are asking that only one person at a time crosses the temporary repair," Mr Jackson said.

He said given the time of the year, when building yards are closed, the council and it's contractors did a great job in getting the temporary repair done and bridge reopened.
"Contractors were out there at 6.20am today to work on it at the low tide so we could get it reopened as son as possible. I think we can all be proud of the achievement."

The council had contacted Te Araroa Trail officials to inform them that the Whananaki section of the trail - the northern end is at the Whananaki footbridge, the southern end is at the gate at the end of McAuslin Road, Sandy Bay - is now ready for use.