Flood waters wash away part of rail bridge over Rangitata River
High flood waters washed away one of the 34 piers in the 610-metre long rail bridge over the Rangitata River.
The missing pier has resulted in the steel bridge spans sagging.
All train movements in the area have been stopped a Kiwirail spokesman said.
“KiwiRail engineers are currently putting together a repair plan, but at this stage we have been unable to undertake a close physical inspection of the damage due to the high water levels.
We cannot comment on how long it will take to repair the bridge at this stage or if there will be further damage to the bridge.”
The Rangitata rail bridge is an important part of the rail connection linking Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch. About 8 freight trains travel across the bridge every weekday, and about 5 each weekend.
“We are focussed on keeping freight moving for our customers and are discussing the situation with them. Thanks to the recent opening of operations at the new Fairfield Freight Hub, near Ashburton, we will be able to move rail freight by road between Ashburton and our Timaru rail terminal (approximately 50kms) while the bridge is closed. This will keep the Invercargill – Dunedin – Christchurch rail freight connection running.”
No passenger trains travel on the line south of Christchurch.
SH6 Fox to Franz Josef reopening 6 pm tonight, temporary road at Smithy’s Creek
Crews in South Westland will have SH6 fully reopened tonight at 6 pm (Friday).
All state highways throughout the West Coast will then be open and accessible. Drivers need to take care given the recent flooding and slips and drive to the conditions.
The last section of SH6, which runs along the West Coast between Hokitika and Haast, will open at 6 pm, and remain open through the night, subject to weather.
This is the section between the two glacier towns, Fox and Franz Josef.
Travellers can expect delays up to 30 minutes given it is a temporary road surface over Smithy’s Creek bridge for this weekend.
NZTA said “crews started the temporary repair as soon as rain abated earlier today and with the creek level dropping, they were able to better assess what needed to be done. In this case we were lucky, the damage caused was not as bad as we had feared when the creek was overtopping the area.
“A rock bench under the road has meant the scour of the approach was not as severe as originally anticipated, and we have been able to get a single lane, temporary road through today.”
The crew will be on site Saturday and back to Smithy’s Creek Monday to begin a more permanent fix, he says.
The highway between the glaciers over the bridge area will be monitored over the weekend and overnight.
It will be kept open subject to weather and could close at any time until the permanent repair is completed.
Travellers need to build in time on SH6 between Haast and Hokitika this weekend and for the next few weeks given the work to come, he says.
Check West Coast highway routes here: https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/highway-conditions/west-coast
