Cyclone Gabrielle: Patangata Bridge remains open to light traffic only

The Patangata Bridge is open to light vehicles. Photo / Paul Taylor

The Patangata Bridge reopened to light traffic on Sunday afternoon, having briefly been closed for assessment.

A “precautionary closure’' was enforced by the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council earlier in the day, following reports of “movement’' in the bridge, which suffered some damage during Cyclone Gabrielle in February.

District council structural engineers inspected the bridge and deemed it safe to reopen to vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or less.

A spokesperson for the District Council confirmed on Monday that the weight limit was still in place.

“This is the same weight restriction that was in place prior [to the temporary closure],’’ the spokesperson said.