The Waimakariri Gorge Bridge is jointly owned by the Waimakariri and Selwyn District Councils. Selwyn District Council is responsible for the day-to-day inspections and maintenance of the bridge. Waka Kotahi also contributes funding to maintain and repair the bridge.

You can see the map of road closures here.

To do this work the bridge will need to be closed from:

Saturday 31 October 2026 – 6:00 am to 6:00 pm

Sunday 1 November 2026 – 6:00 am to 6:00 pm

If the work is not able to be completed that weekend, it will be completed on:

Saturday 7 November and Sunday 8 November 2026

It would not be safe for traffic or those working on the bridge to have the bridge open, while these works are completed.

While the bridge has to be closed, we will be taking the opportunity to carry out other necessary work upgrading the road on the Selwyn side of the bridge reducing the need for disruption in the future.

FAQs

What work is being done?

The planned works are necessary to address identified issues with the bridge, road surface, drainage, safety barriers and associated infrastructure.

The work includes:

• Repairs to damaged bridge railing, including removal and replacement of railing posts.
• Repair and reconnection of the bridge nosing strips to the concrete abutment.
• Inspection of the slumped area of the bridge abutment.
• Pavement repairs.
• Full-width resealing of the Selwyn District Council side of the cutting.
• Guardrail repairs.
• Reinstatement of the drainage table.
• Reinstatement of road signage.

Why does the bridge need to be closed?

Some of this work cannot be safely completed while traffic is travelling across the bridge and through the work area.

The work on the bridge, in particular, needs specialist access and work to be undertaken from the side of the bridge. It would not be safe for the workers or the cars crossing the bridge to complete the work while traffic was crossing the bridge.

Rather than coming back and disrupting the traffic further, we have decided to also complete additional work that is needed to repair the road surface and other work in the area on the Selwyn side of the bridge.

This allows as much work as possible to be completed at the same time; reducing the need to come back and do more work with more disruptions in the future.

Could you arrange times for the bridge to open?

We know how important the Waimakariri Gorge Bridge is to the people who use it and that closing it has a much greater impact than a typical road closure. We are not taking that disruption lightly.

However, this work is essential to keeping the bridge safe and open into the future. Doing all the work at the same time and closing the bridge minimises the amount of time that roadworks are disrupting traffic, while keeping the bridge open and safe in the long-term.

Having times when the bridge is open and safe for vehicles to cross would be extremely difficult with the work that is being done. It would also slow down the work, meaning a longer period of disruption.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we complete this essentail maintenance work.