Drivers risking their lives

Friday, 4 June 2010

People are risking their lives when they remove barriers on the closed Benmore Bridge and drive over it, Southland District Council engineering manager Peter Thompson said. The bridge was closed during the floods in late April-early May and remains closed because further inspection is required to determine the stability of the bridge piles. This cannot happen until water levers have dropped further. We do not know whether the bridge is safe or not and we haven't been able to get to the piles to check them," Mr Thompson said.

"I can understand the frustration of people living on the other side who see a bridge there which looks perfectly okay, but we don't know if it is. We are having an engineer inspect the piles today so should know the extent of the damage shortly.

"I can also understand that a 25km detour is frustrating, but it's simply not worth the risk for the sake of saving a few kilometres."

Council has received reports of people moving the barriers to drive across and also of people vandalising the bridge barriers and closure signs. Both issues have been referred to the police.

"We are urging people to take the barriers seriously because we would hate to see someone hurt or killed if the bridge fails in any manner," Mr Thompson said.

"People are also committing an offense and will be prosecuted by police if caught removing barriers or signs".

Who to contact

If you would like to discuss a matter on this page, feel free to contact us:

Southland District Council
P.O. Box 903
Invercargill 9840
Phone: 0800 732 732
Fax: 0800 732 329
emailsdc@southlanddc.govt.nz