Incredible new drone footage has been released of Sumner Road showing the toll the earthquakes and the last few years have taken on this key route between Sumner and Lyttelton.

View the Newsline footage here

The footage was shot earlier this month and highlights the huge job ahead for contractors working to get Sumner Road re-opened to traffic.

The road has been closed since the February 2011 earthquake due to earthquake damage, and the risk posed by rockfall, cliff collapse and landslides.

The drone footage released today by Christchurch City Council shows the extent of this damage, with huge boulders in the middle of the roadway, large tracts covered by rocks that have fallen from the bluffs above, and parts of the road overgrown by grass and weeds.

The Sumner Road reopening project, jointly funded by NZ Transport Agency and the Council, will see this important road re-opened again.

McConnell Dowell and partner contractors have recently started geotechnical risk mitigation works around Crater Rim Bluffs at the top of Sumner Road, the first stage in the project to reopen the road.

Please note there is a new contact phone number for all queries relating to the geotechnical works around Sumner Road.

If you have any questions or concerns about these works please contact the project team on 0508 MCD COMMS (or 0508 623 266).

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has started up a Port Hills updates page.

'Like' the page to keep up-to-date with all LINZ work in the area and how it could affect you, like road closures, demolitions, access limitations and impacts such as noise or dust.

You can find the Facebook page here.