Despite not being designed and constructed for the level of heavy vehicles that use it today, the 107-year-old Luggate Red Bridge is safe, says the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

The bridge has been closed a number of times in recent weeks for maintenance with the last closure on Wednesday (July 13) - deemed urgent - to repair a crack in a concrete pier.

“The Luggate bridge has been assessed to safely take full HPMV [high productivity motor vehicles/freight truck] traffic,” Waka Kotahi Central Otago senior network manager Robert Choveaux said.

“It is fit for purpose in terms of providing a reasonable level of service for the number and various types of vehicles using it.”

The crack in the concrete pier was picked up on April 22 by Waka Kotahi maintenance contractor, Aspiring Highways. 

Robert said the damage was recent and entirely due to the combination of the age of the bridge and the very high impact loading of the heavy vehicles travelling towards Luggate township not dropping their speeds to the 30km/h speed limit on the bridge. 

“Cracks in piers are not in themselves unsafe unless they are ignored for many years and the pressure applied to them is not mitigated,” Robert said.

“The bridge’s structure is designed for redundancy if a pier fails in a major flood event or earthquake.”

Robert said the urgency to do the repair on Wednesday (July 13) was to ensure further deterioration did not lead to greater complication and escalating costs.

Waka Kotahi has an annual inspection programme in place for the bridge and a critical components inspection is carried out every six years or earlier if required. 

A second yearly inspection takes place when annual maintenance is carried out before Christmas.

“The level of on-going maintenance is based on extending the life of the bridge,” Robert said.

“There are no current plans to replace the bridge.”

The Red Bridge provides a vital link to Wānaka as it is the only HPMV route across the upper Clutha River.

PHOTO: Supplied