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Sumner Lyttelton Corridor E-newsletter January 2016

Bund decision following consultation

In November last year, we asked the community to have their say on how some of the Corridor's mitigation works could look. Read on for a summary of the responses we received, and decisions that have been made following this feedback.

Consultation focused on the work at the corner of Wakefield Avenue and Nayland Street, opposite where the new Sumner Community Facility and Library will be built. Work at this corner will involve the construction of a rockfall bund along the western edge of Wakefield Avenue and southern side of Nayland Street to protect the road from cliff collapse and rockfall. We sought feedback on how this bund will look, with engineers providing two options for consideration.

During the consultation period 67 submissions were received, including a group submission from the Redcliffs Residents' Association and the Sumner Community Residents' Association.  Of these submissions, 61 supported the option of a rock faced bund, no submitters supported the option of a solid fence in front of the bund, and six submitters did not indicate a preference.

Taking that feedback into account, a decision has been made to go ahead with the rock faced bund.

Once the geotech works are completed, the containers will be removed and the sites will be left with temporary fencing to keep people out of the hazard areas, allowing us to get this community hub back and operational as soon as we can. 

Fencing is needed to keep the public out of hazard zones behind the mitigation works (such as bunds).  Of these areas, including the former footpath areas, the majority are Section 45 areas under the CER Act 2011, where CERA (and now LINZ) prohibit access by law for public safety reasons.

During the consultation, there were some concerns raised about fencing along the Corridor route. The project team met with Councillors, members of the Hagley Ferrymead Community Board, representitives of the Redcliffs Residents' Association and the Sumner Community Residents' Association in December 2015 to discuss these concerns further.

At this meeting it was agreed that the hazard mitigation work must go ahead, given the life risk in relation to the road, the small window of summer conditions where the work can safely take place, and to avoid delays which will leave the shipping containers in place for longer.

We understand that there are concerns with some groups in the community about the aesthetic component of the fencing. We will continue with the hazard mitigation work as planned, but put aside the fencing issue at this stage, and work with the Hagley Ferrymead Community Board and community to find an agreed option for how the fencing will look.

All submissions (excluding names/addresses of submitters), along with the project team responses to each submission are available to view online.

Risk mitigation works starting soon along several parts of the corridor

Contractors have been appointed for geotechnical mitigation works at Wakefield Avenue, Clifton and Moa Bone Point, with work scheduled to start in February 2016.

This work will mitigate rockfall and cliff collapse risks in these areas and allow for the removal of the containers which are currently providing interim protection for road users.

We will be in touch with residents and businesses in these areas before works start.

High-tech hillside monitoring

You may have noticed some changes to the containers at Shag Rock Reserve. 

LINZ have placed a modified container here which holds a high-tech measurement system that alerts of any movement of the cliff and impending rockfall.

It's a fully robotic scanner powered by a solar panel and battery system, that scans the cliff face at Shag Rock Reserve, then transmits data via a radio link to the LINZ Ferrymead office.  Specialist software is used to process the data to create a 3D surface of the cliff and compare it to previously collected data to detect any movement.

The laser scanner works alongside another at South Brighton Spit, and other automatic monitoring systems at Deans Head, to create a safer construction environment for workers in Shag Rock Reserve.

LINZ and the Council are working together and coordinating works at Shag Rock Reserve to allow the removal of shipping containers from this part of the Main Road route.  Fallen rock from the cliff collapse zone will be moved away from the base of the cliff and the building debris that have fallen from the cliff tops will be removed. The rock will then be used to form a bund along the front of the reserve to prevent future rockfall and cliff debris from reaching Main Road.  Once this bund is in place, the shipping containers can be removed.

Resource consents have been lodged for this work, which will begin as soon as consents are granted.

Even after the works are completed, Shag Rock Reserve will remain fenced off due to rockfall risk and cliff collapse, with a CERA Section 45 designation prohibiting access for public safety reasons.

Sumner Road - Lyttelton side (Reserve Terrace Lyttelton - Evans Pass Summit Road Intersection)

We have divided Sumner Road into two zones, Zone 3A - the part of Sumner Road from Windy Point to Battery Point and Zone 3B, from Battery Point to Evans Pass Road, including the Crater Rim Bluffs.  These two areas are shown on the map below.  We are working on both areas at the same time.

In zone 3A, geotechnical mitigation works above the road have been completed, and work is now being done on the assessment and design of road repair and reconstruction in this area.  The source rock works above Sumner Road have reduced the risk of rockfall to the road enough to allow the removal of the interim protections that were installed along the edge of the road at the Lyttelton end of the closure zone.

We are now working on ground testing and the assessment of infrastructure on Sumner Road to inform the design of repairs. Machinery and workers will be on the road. Safety is our biggest priority during these works. For public safety and the safety of the workers in this area, the current road closure will remain in place. The road closure also allows the contractors to work more efficiently and allow us to continue the road maintenance and repairs in Zone 3A as quickly as possible.

For safety reasons, we are also discouraging the public from approaching the high hazard zone at the other end of the road (Crater Rim Bluffs Zone 3B). Once the hazards in Zone 3B are mitigated, we will then move straight into the repair of the road beneath the bluffs, and so again will want to keep people away from construction sites.

We do not plan a partial reopening of Sumner Road, but instead will wait until all the hazards and road construction are complete before reopening the road in its entirety, expected to be at the end of 2017, early 2018.

In Zone 3B, preliminary design is complete and a tender process is underway for detailed design and construction of geotech risk mitigation works in this area. We expect a contractor will be appointed in May 2016 for these works in this zone.