The twin bridges over the Waitaki River between Kurow and Hakataramea will be temporarily closed today to allow vegetation to be removed from around the piers.
New Zealand Transport Agency area manager Colin Hey said yesterday the bridges on State Highway 82 would close from 8am, but would be opened on the hour and half-hour for five minutes to allow traffic to pass.
That would continue throughout the day until all the debris was removed.
In an emergency, the bridges would be cleared and opened immediately to allow emergency vehicles over.
The debris against the piers had built up since Christmas, when heavy rain in the upper catchment forced Meridian Energy Ltd to spill water from its hydro lakes.
Mr Hey said it had to be removed to stop scouring and remove pressure from the piers.
A digger would be on the bridges to remove the vegetation, most of which would break up and float downstream.
High flows forced the transport agency to close the bridges from February 8, until they were load tested and declared safe to be reopened on February 17.
The nine-day closure prompted pressure from the community for progress on construction of two two-lane bridges to replace the 129-year-old, one-lane wooden bridges.
