A one-day road closure on Monday has made small difference to the surface of Pekatahi Bridge, which had been compared to driving over a cattle stop.

The bridge makes up part of the vital State Highway 2 connection to the East Coast near Tāneatua for both passenger vehicles and freight.

A New Zealand Transport Agency – Waka Kotahi spokesperson said the bridge received a safety check during the Monday closure. The work team addressed protruding screws and undertook chipseal surface patching over the wooden plank surface.

No further works are planned for the bridge until July. Closures are scheduled for the next school holidays to avoid disruption for school buses.

The one-lane, 100-year-old bridge, which had previously been scheduled to be replaced within the next 10 years, is now no longer going to be replaced. Instead Waka Kotahi plan to leave the timber and steel substructure in place and replace the timber deck.

While no funding has yet been allocated for this, a design phase is underway.