The Gore District Council roading and 3 Waters teams are on site at the Pyramid Bridge after a 50m section broke away late this morning.
We are focusing our attention at this point on:
- The safety of motorists and people in the area
- Water supply for residents and livestock on the Otama rural water supply scheme.
Staff have been sent out and we are looking at getting a helicopter in to find out where the 50m section that has broken away is. There are fears it may be travelling downstream although given its weight, it may have sunk to the river bed.
We are advising people to stay away from any structures downstream of the bridge in case the debris is heading downstream.
The main pipe for the Otama rural water supply scheme, which was attached to the bridge, has severed. There are 253 connections to the scheme for stock and household water. We are looking at bringing in a tanker to provide clean drinking water and options to restore supply.
We asked people to stay away from the bridge site. There are reports of a lot of bystanders and we need our staff to focus on securing the site.
https://whatsoninvers.nz/pyramid-bridge-has-collapsed/