A replacement pedestrian bridge over Kaikorai Stream in Dunedin is expected to be open within two weeks, ending a five-month headache for residents of Green Island and Abbotsford, the Dunedin City Council says.
Piling work for the $100,000 bridge began this week, while the new 11m concrete and steel structure was being assembled off site, council projects engineer Evan Matheson said yesterday.
The foundations were expected to be completed early next week and the new bridge would be swung into position by a crane later in the week, he said.
The finishing touches were expected to take several days, but the bridge was expected to be ready for use within two weeks, he said.
Old stone abutments from an original bridge at the site, dating back to the late 1800s, were being restored and would be preserved at the site, he said.
The developments came nearly five months after the old timber bridge spanning the Kaikorai Stream - built in the 1960s - was condemned, after inspections in December found significant defects.
About 100 to 150 people were believed to use the old bridge each day, he said.
The new bridge was expected to be in place last month, but application for resource consent for the replacement bridge had caused delays, Mr Matheson said.
