Makeover for historic bridge

The bridge in the Whanganui National Park. Picture / Destination Wanganui

The Bridge to Nowhere, in the Whanganui National Park, is in for a facelift.

The Department of Conservation is planning significant touch-up work on the bridge from the middle of this month.

The bridge was built in the mid 1930s as part of the Mangapurua Valley Soldier Settlement scheme.

It was never used as intended because by the time construction was finished in 1936, the settlers had left that part of the valley.

The bridge has been registered by the Historic Places Trust as a Category 1 historic place.

The work, likely to take 10 days, is not expected to affect visitor access to and across the bridge other than short delays of five to 10 minutes, DoC historic heritage adviser Jonathan Welch said.

Planned work includes cleaning the upper deck and handrails, patching small areas of loose concrete, replacing the expansion jointing at either end of the bridge deck and applying a weather-proofing sealant.

"Such work is essential to maintain bridges of this age and construction," Mr Welch said.

"The department considers the bridge an important historic structure and visitor attraction within the park and the proposed work will help preserve the integrity and character of this icon."

He said the project would cost about $70,000.

- NZPA