SH82 South Canterbury bridge replacements

Project update

19 December 2025

Happy Holidays

As we head into the holiday period, work is tracking well on both bridge replacement projects.

We’ve made great progress this year, and there’s plenty more to come in the New Year after our crews take a well-deserved break.

For the Elephant Hill Stream Bridge, we considered detour options during the design phase but will proceed with installing a temporary bridge in January as planned.

We're pleased to announce that HEB Construction are the chosen contractor for the main works of the project that will involve deconstructing the old bridges and building the new ones.

They will start with deconstructing the Elephant Hill Bridge first in Feburary before starting to deconstruct the Waihao North River Bridge.

Thank you for your support over the past year and from all of us on the project team, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

Click the image to watch the full timelapse video of the Acrow bridge being installed.

Acrow bridge installed at Waihao North River Bridge

We’ve installed a temporary bridge on SH82 so we can keep the highway open while we replace the Waihao North River Bridge.

We’re using an Acrow bridge, a new design that’s made of steel and bolted together in sections. It’s very similar to the temporary Bailey bridges we typically use, except it’s stronger, wider, and can span longer distances.

At eighty-four metres, it’s the longest Acrow bridge used in New Zealand and the first in the South Island.

The bridge was assembled in sections and then pushed across the river bit by bit, instead of lifting it in one piece. This efficient method meant we could finish the installation in just two weeks.

We still need to finish connecting the bridge to the highway and some minor things so it’s ready for use early in the New Year. Then the main contractor will start removing the old bridge and building the new one.