Gore District Council staff and contractors have today started work on restoring the water pipeline destroyed on Friday when a large section of the Pyramid Bridge broke away.
Chief executive Stephen Parry said preparatory work had started at the site to restore the
connection from the Otama rural water supply scheme pumping station, on the west side of the Mataura River, with the reservoir, on the east side.
The plan was to suspend a pipe across the river by wire rope, using the remains of the bridge to support it.
“Structural engineers have inspected the remaining section of the bridge and are confident it will support the temporary structure.”
At this stage, the plan was to have water restored by the end of this week, Mr Parry said.
Otama scheme users will need to continue to conserve water. A tanker is in place at the Otama hall for people wanting drinking water.
There have not been any requests to date for tankers to supply household or stock water. The Council will allow approved contractors to supply water to scheme users, for essential use, from the Gore water supply. It will be sourced from a hydrant in Bury Street.
Mr Parry said last week’s rainfall had lifted the water level in Gore’s reservoir while demand was down due to the cooler weather.
“This is an emergency situation. We have the capacity to supply water from Gore therefore it makes sense and is more cost effective to allow water tankers to fill up in the town instead of Invercargill.”
There are 253 connections on the scheme. Average daily use is about 700,000 litres although at this time of year it increases to about 1.1million litres a day.
The 50m section of the bridge that broke off on Friday is now clearly visible about 60m downstream.
The Council is looking at removing it later this week.
The section broke away after a build-up of debris, caused by the high water flow following last week’s rainfall. No one was hurt. A contractor had been on the bridge clearing the jammed logs but moved off after noticing it was shaking.
The barriers erected at the bridge on Friday will remain in place and the Council will review the need for on-site security, which has been in place over the weekend.
“There has been a lot of public interest over the weekend so from a safety point of view we needed to make sure no-one tried to get a closer look,” Mr Parry said.
With work starting on putting a temporary pipeline in place, the Council urges the public to stay away from the site.
There is a detour in place via Pyramid-Waiparu Road, Waipounamu Bridge Rd and the Riversdale- Waikaia Road.