Skippers Bridge Temporary Closure

The historic Skippers Canyon Bridge in the Skippers Canyon will be temporarily closed for inspection after cracks were detected on a routine inspection, Queenstown Lakes District Council network operations engineers Michael Wardill said.

The cracks, which have appeared at the top of a supporting stack stone tower, had not been present during last year’s engineering inspection. “As a precaution we will close the bridge to all vehicular traffic from Monday (30 July, 2012)  for approximately three weeks,” Mr Wardill said.

The closure would allow for urgent repair work to be carried out,” he said. The Council had made all endeavours to contact any known, affected parties. “This will have some impact on a handful of operators but clearly safety is paramount in situations like this,” he said.

Temporary signage will be put in place at the site. “We are fairly confident that the works will bring the bridge back up to full working order,” Mr Wardill said.