Work has finished on protecting Oamaru Creek banks and bridges in the Oamaru Gardens from flooding, allowing the bridges to remain open.
Floods in May 2010 damaged and led to the closure of the croquet bridge across the Oamaru Creek at the Top Ten Holiday Park, and placed in doubt the future of the Chinese bridge and another linking with the Chelmer St car park.
Last year, the Waitaki District Council allocated $182,000 for flood protection and repair work, which also included obtaining resource consent from the Otago Regional Council.
The council's recreation manager, Erik van der Spek, said this week completion of the work meant that, in the event of future flooding, the risk of the Oamaru Creek banks scouring and collapsing, and of damage to the garden's bridges, had been significantly reduced.
"In addition, as a result of this work, pedestrian access across the bridge from the Top 10 Holiday Park to the gardens has been restored and access from the west end of Chelmer St has been improved," he said.
The garden's bridge will be formally reopened by Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton at 10am today.
