{"id":262104,"date":"2026-02-01T06:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/262104\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T06:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:33:07","slug":"waitao-bridge-sinkhole-repairs-underway-as-motorists-told-to-avoid-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/262104\/","title":{"rendered":"Waitao Bridge sinkhole repairs underway as motorists told to avoid area"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bridge structure was unaffected and fully serviceable but the bridge approach had dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cTemporary closures\/diversions are in place today while repairs are completed.<\/p>\n

\"AA small tomo (sinkhole) has opened on the approach to the Welcome Bay Rd bridge over the Waitao Stream. Photo \/ Cameron Avery<\/p>\n

\u201cFor safety, please avoid the area, respect traffic management and keep clear of crews and equipment until works are complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signage and diversions are in place at the Te Puke Highway end of Welcome Bay Rd<\/a> and near Waikite Rd.<\/p>\n

Repairs were expected to be completed this afternoon, subject to ground and weather conditions.<\/p>\n

Glynn said detours would remain until the site was inspected and confirmed safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrivers should follow onsite instructions and allow extra time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the focus was on making the site safe and reinstating the pavement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny further cause analysis will be informed by what crews find during repair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty Council encourages drivers who see any new defects forming such as sudden depressions, edge breaks, or ponding, to report them via 0800 926 732. <\/p>\n

The Waitao area was impacted by flooding during the January 21-22 heavy rain that caused two deadly landslides in Tauranga.<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Morrell<\/a> is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bridge structure was unaffected and fully serviceable but the bridge approach had dropped. \u201cTemporary closures\/diversions are in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12635,806,17094,1565,51720,111,43,139,69,66952,36655,61,6859,58455,150153],"class_list":["post-262104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-area","tag-as","tag-avoid","tag-bridge","tag-motorists","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-repairs","tag-sinkhole","tag-to","tag-told","tag-underway","tag-waitao"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}