That is the day set down by the New Zealand Transport Agency to officially open the first of the two new twin bridges between Kurow and Hakataramea on State Highway 82, an event that will have a strong community focus.
The bridge is the shorter of the two spans, on the south side of the river. Its concrete deck was poured last week.
Agency highway manager Colin Knaggs said yesterday the bridge was on schedule to open to traffic in three weeks.
''This first bridge will be opened only a year after the sod turning - a great achievement for the project and our contractor McConnell Dowell Constructors,'' he said.
''We expect the second bridge, the longer of the two on the Hakataramea side of the river, to be opened later this year.''
The two new two-lane bridges being built on State Highway 82 replace two ageing single-lane timber bridges which opened in 1881. The $20.1 million project is part of the agency's $1 billion programme of investment in Canterbury's transport network from 2012 to 2015.
Mr Knaggs said once the first bridge was opened, work would start dismantling the old timber bridge over the southern branch of the river.
Work on the second bridge was progressing well. Piling had been completed and the structural steel was being installed.
The Kurow and Hakataramea communities have been pushing for decades for the replacement of the old wooden bridges, particularly in recent years when flooding closed them, including five times in 2011, once for nine days.
