Slip clearance work to begin on SH1north of Kaikoura
Friday 10 February
Excavators have moved on-site and will begin later next week clearing slips on SH1 north of Kaikoura. The diggers are currently clearing access tracks to get to the slip sites.
Excavators have moved on site and work will begin next week clearing the large slips on State Highway 1 to the north of Kaikoura.
During the last two months, millions of litres of water has been dropped on the slips by helicopter, washing loose material off the slip faces and making these safe for machinery and workers to now move on-site. Extensive planning work during this time will ensure rapid progress is made with removal of the slips.
Equipment and crews will be working both from the north and south to clear the slips and make each site safe for work to begin repairing, realigning and rebuilding the road and rail corridors.
Equipment is now on-site at Irongate, about 1km north of Blue Duck Road, and at the slip site 300m north of Ohau Point. It is expected to take about three weeks to clear the material from the Irongate slip and make it safe to build an access road around the site. This will then enable the excavator to move north, building access tracks around three other slips to reach Ohau Point.
Construction of the tracks will open up some limited access for residents at Rakautara, who have been isolated between the slips since November.
Slip clearance is also expected to get underway within the next few weeks at Ohau Point, one of the biggest and most complex of the nine significant slips along this section of SH1. Clearance of this slip will initially be carried out by two remote-controlled diggers, because the slips remain too unstable and dangerous for workers to be on-site at this stage.
Clearing the slips and re-opening State Highway 1 between Picton and Christchurch remains the Government’s number one priority in getting the road and rail corridors fully re-opened by the end of this year.
Helicopter sluicing will continue on the remainder of the large slips, making these safe for clearance work to begin as soon as practical.
Helicopters continue to drop litres of sea water each day on the large slips north of Kaikoura to wash away loose rocks and material to make these safe for clearance work to begin.
New bridges reduce congestion on alternate route
Friday 10 February
MP for Nelson Nick Smith and National Party MP Maureen Pugh open the Upper Buller bailey bridge helping to keep traffic moving on the alternate route.
Two new temporary bridges were opened on the alternate route yesterday between Picton and Christchurch to improve safety and reduce travel times.
The new Bailey bridges (temporary steel structures) have been installed alongside permanent one-way bridges at Upper Buller and Homestead Creek, on State Highway 63 west of St Arnaud, allowing traffic to flow safely in both directions at all times.
These bridges will help eliminate delays for travellers from waiting to use the single-lane bridges at these two locations, keeping everyone moving.
The alternate route (through Lewis Pass) has been coping with a significant increase in traffic volumes since the November 14 Kaikoura earthquake. This has put pressure on the network. Providing duplicate bridges at these locations, will help improve the journey for everyone using the highway.
A third Bailey bridge is being installed at Speargrass Creek. This is expected to open later this month.