The damaged Little Valley Rd bridge across the Manuherikia River in Alexandra is closed between 9am and 5pm this week as repairs are carried out.
Central Otago District Council roading manager Julie Muir said work would be done during daytime and daily closures would be designed to allow for people travelling to and from work and school, Ms Muir said.
During the closures, the bridge would open for five minutes on the hour, every hour, plus a one hour opening between noon and 1pm, she said.
''We had looked at doing the work at night time - we appreciate that bridge closures are going to cause problems for people. It's just that it is quite noisy work and there are houses quite close to the bridge, so that has been ruled out as an option.''
Work would focus on the approaches to the bridge, beams supporting the structure and railings damaged in a recent accident.
Work on the approaches to the bridge would prevent the ground slumping and bumps from forming, and other work would reduce vibration on the bridge which had caused nails to pop out of the surface, Ms Muir said.
It was hoped the work would be completed by the end of this week, but was weather dependent, she said.
