A MECHANICAL fault with the Swan Hill Bridge’s lift span has fuelled doubts over the effectiveness of a new lift span bridge, according to the Ratepayers’ Association president.
The lift span fault on Tuesday caused the Swan Hill Bridge to close for more than eight hours, causing disruption to motorists who were redirected through Speewa, Nyah and Tooleybuc.
The bridge was re-opened to motorists at around 5.45pm on Tuesday, but will remain closed to boat traffic until repairs are made.
Ratepayers Association president Brian Carty said the fault had caused concern among the people of Swan Hill.
“This has all come about because the bridge is more than 100 years old,” Mr Carty said.
“They keep fixing up an old thing that’s out of date.”
Mr Carty said the fault showed the lift span was an ancient process, and was not appropriate for use for a future bridge in Swan Hill.
