A giant floating walkway made out of fabric on an Italian lake has had to be closed at night after tens of thousands of visitors began to wear it out.

The 1.9-mile (3km) walkway of 200,000 floating cubes covered in orange fabric was created by artist Christo and has proved a major attraction since it opened on Saturday on Lake Iseo.

However, 270,000 visitors have flocked to see the free installation – called “the Floating Piers” – in less than five days, far exceeding organisers’ expectations of about 500,000 over 16 days.

An aerial view of ‘the Floating Piers’ installation. Photograph: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

As wear and tear took its toll, local officials said the bridge 60 miles (100km) east of Milan would be closed between midnight and 6am. The walkway will be taken down on 3 July.

The large numbers of visitors were also proving challenging for local authorities who have to keep the area clean, said Valerio Valente, governor of the region of Brescia, on Wednesday evening.

Christo is famed for works on a massive scale, including wrapping the Berlin Reichstag in fabric in 1995.