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TREC Tairāwhiti recovery update

Issue 25

11 July 2025

Tēnā koe

In this edition, you can read about a recently completed project on State Highway 2 (SH2), progress at Tōrere on State Highway 35 (SH35) as well as the latest at Hikuwai Bridge.

We also share how TREC has been out in the community at Te Karaka and give a reminder around wandering stock and who to call.

Thanks for your patience as we continue our recovery mahi.  


	Completion at SH2 Rakauroa Crews have now completed repairs to an underslip at Rakauroa on SH2 north of Otoko Hill. Cyclone Gabrielle had washed away the road shoulder creating an incredibly steep terrain, which presented challenges for the team. Soil nails were installed to stabilise the ground beneath the road and a shotcrete (sprayed concrete) retaining wall was constructed with a type of concrete that helps to drain water easily. The finished wall is 3.7m high and 15m long. Megaflo drains were also installed to reduce the water pressure behind the wall. These are flat with a large surface area to collect water; they drain faster and take up less space than traditional pipes. Once the retaining wall was complete the guardrail was reinstated. Crews have completed repairs at an underslip north of Otoko Hill on SH2. The green showing in the ‘after’ image is hydroseeding – a mix of water, seeds, mulch and fertiliser to reestablish vegetation.


	SH35 Tōrere progressing well We’re making good progress at the SH35 Tōrere site with less traffic during the school holidays. The crew will soon begin repairing the overslip above the road and will also continue to work on the underslip below the road. When work on the overslip begins, traffic management will move from a priority give way to a 2-way single lane stop/go. We’ll install erosion and sediment controls at the base and then excavate the top of the overslip to reduce weight and ensure safe working conditions. An access track into the overslip will be dug out and stabilised with aggregate (gravel/stones), and a safety fence installed to protect from falls. The foundation work for the first retaining wall at this site (an MSE wall – mechanically stabilised earth) will begin to create a strong, safe slope that can support new drainage systems. This work will mark important progress in the safety and stability of this site. Work is now underway on both the underslip and overslip at Tōrere. Pictured is the overslip.


	SH2 Hakanui Straight team at local community day TREC was pleased to join the Te Karaka community day on Sunday 29 June to update community and hapū on the work starting soon at the SH2 Hakanui Straight project (formerly called Nesbitt’s Dip). The community day was held at the Mahaki Tiaki Tangata Evacuation Site, officially opened last year; a site where food, shelter, and other services will be available for displaced residents should they need support in the future. Our team presented on the important upgrade to this 850-metre-long flood prone section of the highway. We’ll raise the highway by 3 metres, install new culverts (large pipes) and extend the Hakanui Stream culvert to handle higher water volumes and reduce the risk of future flooding. The work will make this section of highway stronger, safer, and more reliable for everyday travel and emergency response. A pohiri to mark the project start will be held in mid-July, with main construction expected to start in late July. TREC representatives presenting at the recent Te Karaka community day.


	Culvert working like a charm at Opape We recently shared a story about work completed at Opape in the Eastern Bay of Plenty on SH35. The new culvert is a third larger than the previous one – upgrading a 450-millimetre pipe to 600 millimetres – which helps maintain a consistent flow of water away from the road. Around the pipe you can see a wall of gabion baskets – cages filled with rocks we use to fill and strengthen the land and support the road. Check out our video of the culvert in action during some of the wet weather we’ve been experiencing. Opape culvert working to channel water away.


	Hikuwai Bridge enabling works nearing completion Enabling works are wrapping up on the Hikuwai Bridge replacement project with only pavement completion and surfacing to be done on the 250m long temporary realignment of SH35. Crews are hoping for drier weather to get these works underway which should take a few days if conditions are favourable. Once this work is complete there will be some finishing touches such as line-marking, guardrail and signage installation before a traffic switch from the existing SH35 road to the new alignment. We expect this traffic switch to be low impact with minor disruption to road users. We will share details on any traffic impacts in this newsletter as we have them. Once the temporary road is complete, the team and local contractors will have finished the 3 major enabling works packages. Main works to get the bridge build underway will follow soon after, once the contractor for that work package is appointed. Construction of the temporary road is almost complete.

Wandering stock? Call 111

Tairāwhiti communities are familiar with the issue wandering stock present on our roads.

If you see livestock on the road in uncontrolled circumstances, police consider it an emergency and you should call 111 to report it.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) in Southland recently shared a video telling one person’s story about the profound and long-lasting impacts wandering stock can have.

State highway snapshot

Below is a snapshot of construction works either underway or coming soon. You can also view completed, current and future work sites on our interactive map.

Here are some of the construction terms we use:

Bund – embankment that creates a barrier
Buttress – supporting structure
Counterfort drain – drain that improves slope stability by controlling groundwater
Dolosse - interlocking concrete blocks
Gabion wall - baskets filled with rocks
MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) – a retaining wall construction technique used to stabilise slopes
Rip rap - large rocks
Rock revetment – protection
Scour - erosion
Shotcrete – sprayed liquid concrete
Soil anchors/soil nails – a device used to hold, restrain and support structures
Willow wall – using willows as ‘living walls’ to stabilise slips

SH2 underway (link to Otoko map and web page)

Otoko Hill (site B) – tree removal and major drainage to stabilise slopes
Otoko Hill (site J) – retaining wall repairs and drainage installation
Matawai Road – willow wall to stabilise slip.

SH2 coming soon

Otoko Hill (site K) - overslip repairs
Otoko Hill (site M) - underslip repairs.

SH35 underway

Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement – enabling (early) works
Mangahauini Gorge - investigations to support future recovery work
Mangahauini Gabion Wall – Stage 2 – soil nails, buttress and rip rap at the bottom of the existing gabion wall
Kopuaroa Slip 1 – reinstate SH35 to 2 lanes by installing a soil anchor and shotcrete wall
Kopuaroa Slip 2 – build a 250m long buttress to support SH35 and provide additional drainage
Tōrere – underslip and overslip repairs
Paronga - D9 Gully Site – buttress wall with MSE. Two faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes
Kemps Hill subsidence – buttress repair using a willow wall. Three faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes
Makatote dropout #3 – reinstating state highway to 2 lanes, buttress support and rip rap to prevent future river erosion.

SH35 coming soon

Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge revetment – repair the scour at the south end of the bridge and construct a major revetment with dolosse for future-proofing
Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge repairs – strengthening works
Makatote dropout #2 – buttress support and rip rap to prevent future river erosion.