Karangarua suspension bridge, South Westland, night closures from this weekend, one full closure on a mid-week night

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will be closing a South Westland bridge on State Highway 6 overnight from this Sunday night (14 February) through to Friday night (19 February) for essential repairs.

The hours are from 9 pm each night through to 5 am the next morning. The bridge will open every two hours at 11pm, 1am and 3am to allow traffic to pass, except Wednesday 17 February when the bridge will be closed for the full eight hours from 9pm to 5am to allow concrete to cure and set. 

The bridge is south of Fox Glacier. 

If drivers arrive at the bridge after the 9 pm closing, they will face a two hour wait to get across on all the nights bar Wednesday when it is closed all night.

Wet weather may delay this work, so electronic boards will advise of the times of closure on the highway in Hokitika, at Fox Glacier, Haast, and Makarora on the Otago side of the Haast Pass.

Wednesday night is an eight-hour, full closure

In addition to the two-hourly closures, on one night – Wednesday 17 February, 9 pm through to Thursday, 18 February, 5 am, the bridge will be closed the full night to ensure the concrete pour on the deck can cure. Arrangements are in place with Emergency Services during this time.

Waka Kotahi’s highway maintenance team will also be working underneath the bridge completing repairs to the bridge bearings and deck joints, says Moira Whinham, Maintenance Contract Manager for Waka Kotahi on the West Coast.

Waka Kotahi thanks all night-time users of SH6 for their patience while this work is completed.

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