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A SOUTH Australian MP fed up with waiting for a "very shabby" bridge to be painted in his electorate has done the job himself.

The Liberal member for Schubert, Ivan Venning, said he waited for years for the state government to paint the bridge at Nuriootpa, in the Barossa Valley.

He and a team of volunteers began painting the bridge yesterday and expect the job to be completed by this afternoon.

Mr Venning, who's held his seat for 22 years, said the bridge hadn't been painted since being built in 1967, despite his lobbying the government for action.

"I've always been a hands-on member, but not quite to this extent," he said today.

"It has gone from rags to riches, it really has, and the frogs are still croaking so we have not upset them."

The MP said the government quoted a cost of $600,000 for the work, saying the bridge needed to be removed to deal with lead-paint on the handrails.

But he said the group have done it for about $2000, while taking the right precautions to deal with the lead.

"The bridge is in a beautiful area in the middle of a garden setting, but it was looking very shabby and had been like it for four or five years," he said.

Mr Venning had thought of painting the bridge in the colours of his team Port Adelaide Football Club "just to stir a few people up" but his team has kept the colour scheme to the original green.

  National Affairs Jun 1, 2014 7:01 AM