Welcome to the seventh issue of our….

State Highway 2 Waioeka Gorge Slip update

State Highway 2 (SH2) through the Waioeka Gorge remains closed following large slips that occurred on Friday 2 March and Saturday 3 March.

Approximately 100,000 cubic metres of slip material came down on Saturday 3 March at about 500pm.

The construction activity at the slip site has been divided into three zones. Zone 1 is located near the top of the slope, Zone 2 at mid height and Zone 3 is at the base of the slope face.

Zone 1 is now relatively stable and the focus is now around removing bulk slip material sitting in the middle of the slip face. Slip material is already being removed from the base of the slope and an access track is now fully operational.

On Friday 16 March, the NZTA announced it will look to create a temporary diversion route around the slip face once the slip face is stable so that access through the Waioeka Gorge can be established, while they continue to get State Highway 2 reopened as quickly as possible.

In this issue:

• Operation update
• Temporary diversion route..

Operation update
Efforts continue to be focused around Zone 2 and Zone 3. In Zone 2, the winching and sluicing operation occurred throughout the weekend and will continue today and tomorrow. The contractor is happy with the progress made to date and says the log winching operation is working well.
The geologists will abseil down the slip face today to assess whether the winching and sluicing has helped to remove the majority of the bulk slip material, once this has happened, the slip face will be stable enough for the machines to come in and start removing the remainder of the slip material.
In Zone 3, the removal of base material has been in operation from both sides of the slip face. Some of this material has been taken to deposit sites located at either end.
The NZTA continues to thank motorists for their patience whilst we continue to work on getting State Highway 2 re-opened through the Waioeka Gorge.

Temporary diversion route

The NZTA announced on Friday that it will look to establish a temporary diversion route around the slip area. Bay of Plenty state highway manager, Brett Gliddon said a temporary road will provide restricted and time-limited access around the slip area, while activity continues to get access to the state highway through the gorge reopened.

Mr Gliddon says the slip face needs to be stable, before the temporary diversion route can be created around the slip area and opened to traffic.

Access through the diversion route will be restricted and time-limited to ensure that it is effective and safe for traffic.

“It’s likely there will be significant restrictions on using it, so we would stress that it’s not going to be a cure-all by any stretch – but we hope this can provide some relief to the region.”

Mr Gliddon says the NZTA are in discussions regarding consents for the temporary diversion route. However, he says the focus will continue to be on getting State Highway 2 through the Gorge re-opened to traffic as quickly as possible.

The Waioeka Gorge webpage
To get the latest on the Waioeka Gorge project visit our new webpage: www.nzta.govt.nz/waioeka-gorge.

If you want us to email you our project updates, please contact us to: waioekagorge@nzta.govt.nz

If you have any ideas of how we can improve this webpage, please email us at waioekagorge@nzta.govt.nz.

Please send this update to anyone who is interested in the Waioeka Gorge closure.

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Machinery used in this operation will be:

27t Excavator
35t Excavator
2 x 14t Excavators
21t Excavator
20t Excavator
2 x 12t Excavators
Loader 1.5m3
Loader 4m3
6 x 6 Wheeler Trucks
2 x Truck and Trailer Units
Helicopter
2 x 30t ADT Dumpers
- Additional equipped will be mobilised at different stages of the operation as required.

ENDS

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