Council technical director John Martin said the project had hit a few snags since the bridge’s firm J and R Industries went into administration in May.

Mr Martin said council was now planning to do most of the work themselves, using Wimmera trades peoples. 

“They have been on the job doing parts of the work, such as concreting and welding,” he said.

“They have been preparing the handrails, which are being locally fabricated.”

The Anzac Centenary Footbridge is designed to connect Horsham’s Apex Island with the river bank along Major Mitchell Drive. 

J and R Industries was hired to prefabricate major components of the bridge.

Mr Martin said since taking over the project, council found a number of issues that needed to be fixed before more work could start.

“These were things that the previous contractor didn’t get to before he went into administration,” he said.

“We’ve also had to send our staff to training so they could work at certain heights, so we’ve had some time off to send them away, which has slowed things down.” Mr Martin said a suspension bridge expert visited the site last week to advise council about some issues with the bridge.

“He will be back later this week to adjust the suspension cables,” he said.

“After that, there should be visible work at the site again.”

Mr Martin said the hiccups meant it was difficult to predict when the project would be finished. 

“We had hoped that once prefabricated works were done, we could move ahead in a straight forward manner, but that wasn’t the case,” he said. Mr Martin said people should soon see more rapid progress at the bridge.

“Once the elements over the water are completed, the work on land, such as the approach ramps, is more straight forward,” he said.

Mr Martin said he would have a clearer picture of the project’s timeline in the next few weeks.