Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency coastal Otago senior network manager Chris Harris said work on the connections between the concrete bridge deck and steel supporting beams got under way in early May, but lead paint on the steel beams had to be removed, which delayed progress.
The State Highway 1 bridge was reduced to one lane at times, with traffic lights and a temporary speed limit in place, to minimise the noise and vibration while drilling and injecting epoxy below the deck.
The original single-lane timber deck bridge was built in the early 1900s. It was re-built on the same alignment in 1958 to provide two lanes with a concrete deck. Since then, the traffic loading on the bridge had steadily increased, Mr Harris said.
In 2002, the bridge was widened, and recent monitoring revealed the increasing rate of deterioration of the connections between the concrete deck and steel supporting beams had reached a stage where maintenance was required.
The budget for the project was $90,000.
