New Zealand Transport Agency area manager for Central Otago, John Jarvis, said yesterday the 96-year-old one-lane bridge was now red underneath and painters should start the final coats next week.
The paint job was expected to be finished at the end of March but had been delayed for several reasons, including initial problems with sandblasting, and a delayed shipment of red paint from Australia, which finally arrived last week.
Contractor Fulton Hogan had rostered extra workers on to the job and they should be helped by the forecast good stretch of weather, he said.
By the end of the month, the scaffolding should be removed and the site tidied up.
"It will look much cleaner and brighter than what it was.
"It had dulled right off," Mr Jarvis said.
