The Fiji Roads Authority expects to complete the repair to Tamavua-i-Wai Bridge by next Wednesday.
FRA Acting Chief Executive Officer Rory Garland says FRA engineers have been working to finalise the designs for repair to the bridge.
Garland says this was completed this morning and at the same time fabrication of the new section of beam will get underway.
He says the complexity of the loading in this area of the bridge means that ‘off the shelf’ steel beams cannot be used.
The contractor has been assembling the platform which will be slung under the bridge.
This platform will be transported to the site today and installed tonight.
This will allow preparatory works to start tomorrow.
Garland says providing no further problems are identified once the engineers get close‑up access to the structure, the repair should be completed by next Wednesday.
This will allow the second lane to be reopened to traffic.
A crack in the steel beam under the bridge was discovered on Wednesday. Following advice from the engineers the FRA had no choice but to close one lane of the bridge and undertake immediate repair.
He says they have been advised that the cause of this crack was most likely due to recent excessive loads from overweight vehicles.
This crack was not apparent in the original check on the structure in 2012 and during a more recent check in May 2015.
Garland says other known defects on this bridge were not sufficiently serious to raise any immediate public safety concern.
