Haast highway open for Christmas

Press, 15 December 1979, Page 2

Haast highway open for Christmas

I The storm-ravaged Haast 'Pass highway will be open for Christmas, but passengers on tourist coaches will have to walk over the Gates of Haast bridge to lessen the weight burden. A weight limit of 12,500 kg has been put on the 50metre bridge, which was seriously undermined by the floods of two weeks ago. Temporary repairs by the Ministry of Works and Development would allow the Haast Pass to be open between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily from December 20, said the District Commissioner of Works (Mr ,P F. Reynolds) yesterday. Barriers would be placed across the road at night, [said Mr Reynolds. i Final restoration of the ibridge, estimated to take six months, will involve replacing one of the scoured-out foundations and adding another span at the Haast end. Full repairs to the storm damage on the Haast highway are expected to cost up to $2 million. Mr Reynolds said efforts to have the road open by Christmas had succeeded through the “unstinting work” of his own staff, and the willing help given by project engineers and contractors.

Some of the heavy machinery used had been drawn from South Island hydroelectric projects. Mr Reynolds said that extreme care would be essential for motorists on the Haast Pass to Haast section, where much restoration work had still to be done.

Bus passengers would have to walk over the Gates of Haast bridge until more permanent repairs had been made, said Mr Reynolds. It was hoped that the load restrictions could be reviewed early in the New Year. State highway 73. through Arthur’s Pass, which had been reopened to traffic on Thursday, was closed again yesterday. A Ministry of Works and Development spokesman said there had been problems with earthworks at Wallace Point, east of Otira.

Some cars had managed to get through yesterday afternoon, and it was hoped that the road could be reopened today, the spokesman said. Work had been hampered bysteady rain in the area. The Rangitata River bridge on State highway 72 at Arundel was now open to single-lane traffic only at the northern end, the spokesman said. The bridge had been closed for some time after the northern approach had been badly scoured.

State highway 80 from Pukaki to Mount "Cook is now carrying two-lane traffic, and" the night closing imposed last week has been lifted.