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TREC Hawke's Bay recovery update |
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29 November 2024 |
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Tēnā koe, TREC continues to deliver a busy recovery programme alongside local contractors, with work in full swing in the run up to Christmas. In this fortnight’s update, we share some of the challenging sites TREC and local contractors are working hard to deliver, talk about what we heard from the Pūtōrino community last week, and provide our usual highway highlights. |
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Pūtōrino community meeting wrap upThanks to everyone from Pūtōrino and surrounds who joined us and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) at the community meeting on Wednesday 20 November at the Waikare & Districts Sports Centre. We were really pleased to share that the lower section of Devil’s Elbow is now back to two lanes (see map further down). The temporary 50km/h will return to the posted speed limit after safety checks are completed and signage is installed. Please follow all speed limits at all times to stay safe and keep other road users and our hardworking crew safe too.
Community questions The site is steep, narrow and a very tight area for machinery to safely work in. TREC’s Senior Project Manager Tony King outlined the repair stages. The first stage - ‘enabling works’ - began last week. Crew removed materials so a new wall can be built. This will be done in small sections with an anchoring system and deep piles to secure it. Read more about Devil's Corner on page 5 of the TREC Pānui. Some community members also asked about the Mohaka slow vehicle bay road surface. NZTA repairs are scheduled to begin early December. Driver behaviour was also noted. Community Constable Andy O’Sullivan joined the meeting and advised people to report poor driving behaviour to 105 Police at 0800 105 105 or www.police.govt.nz/use-105/driving-behaviour. The TREC team updating the Pūtōrino community. |
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Tangoio Falls Reserve underslip progressing wellThis project on State Highway 2 (SH2) about 25km north of Napier is one of our trickiest recovery jobs. As shown in the photos below, the crew has a very tight spot to drill into the crib wall (while being sun smart with the umbrella). Drilling was completed last week and a total of 100 ground anchors between 4-10m long have been installed in three areas of the hillside. Testing of the anchors is underway this week. Once they've passed the testing, the anchors will have shotcrete (spray-on concrete) over them for the final surface. This worksite is extremely steep, narrow and difficult to access. The truck driving past the digger is less than one metre away from it and the crew. This is why a pilot vehicle is used to ensure traffic passes through at a safe speed. Thank you for driving carefully through this site to help keep our crew and other road users safe. Despite the challenges, the crew is making great progress and we’re on track to have this section open to two lanes for the Christmas break. It will then be temporarily back to one lane in January for final works. Tangoio Falls Reserve underslip repair site on SH2 is narrow and exposed to the weather. |
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SH2 Devil’s Elbow – ‘Project G’This is not a job for the faint hearted. Qualified abseilers spent up to 10 hours a day hanging down the sheer bank (above an 80m drop) installing ground anchors. The underslip from Cyclone Gabrielle left the road above vulnerable to slipping away further, which could then cut off this key section of SH2. The work included: Stabilising the road: Abseilers installed 137 ground anchors on the left side. Drainage: The hanging stripes in the ‘during’ photo are PVC pipes set to drain water away from behind the wall. The large culvert on the right also drains water away under the state highway from the waterfall on the far right cliff face. Erosion protection: The rip rap (large rocks) and geofabric (white material) under the culvert in the ‘after’ photo protect the land below from washing away when the culvert has intense flows. Following hydroseeding, we installed guardrail and re-opened this site to two lanes. You can see where Project G is on the Devil's Elbow map further down.
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Update from Glencoe Culvert on State Highway 50Our crews have successfully rebuilt and strengthened the road and its foundations at the Glencoe Culvert on State Highway 50 (SH50). The intense water and debris flow from Cyclone Gabrielle buckled the rock-filled gabion basket wall (installed in 1999) leading to a sagging road. To strengthen it we replaced the old gabion baskets and added a 0.5m deep concrete capping beam to support the guardrail. Crew also installed two stormwater diversion channels (both sides of culvert in the ‘after’ photo). These will divert surface runoff from heavy rainfall into the stream. This was followed by erosion control matting, rip rap (large rocks), and seeding for plant growth. Overall, this work provides improved stability and resilience against future flooding events for the road and surrounding area. A new guardrail and new fences enabled this section to return to two lanes.
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Highway HighlightsSH5 Napier to Taupō
SH50, SH51 Hawke’s Bay South
Rail repairs
SH2 Hawke’s Bay North
SH2 Devil’s Elbow (see map below)
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Stretch of SH2 south of Wairoa to close overnight for 3 nights - no detourA stretch of SH2 will be closed for 3 nights next month just south of Wairoa with no detour while NZTA crews carry out resurfacing and bridge deck work. The road, between Ohinepaaka Stream and Waihua River Bridges, will close Monday 16, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 December, between 8pm and 5am each night. NZTA crews will be finished onsite and the road fully reopened at 5am on Thursday 19 December.
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Your questions answeredRoads seemed to last way longer 20 years ago, have you changed how you build roads? Hawke’s Bay roads have been made from the same material for decades. The stone ‘aggregates’ are carried downstream in our local rivers from the Ruahine and Kaweka ranges. These are known as ‘alluvial aggregates’. That hasn’t really changed. In other parts of the country crushed material comes from quarries in the hills. Detailed layering When building roads, a seal coat (thin layer of bitumen) and typically two different sizes of stone chip are installed on top of the aggregates (known as the ‘pavement’) in year one. The chip separates vehicle tyres from the bitumen which waterproofs the pavement. In New Zealand we combine additives to the bitumen for different applications, however the source properties of bitumen has not changed. The new seal needs 12 months to settle, after which point a second coat seal is applied for strengthening and waterproofing. Designing for the impact of changing traffic The road is most vulnerable in those first 12 months to damage. In recent years we’ve seen an increase in traffic with larger, heavier trucks, which significantly increases the ’wear and tear’ on our roads. Roading design adjusts pavement depth and seal to account for vehicle numbers and heavy truck volumes. Cement can be added to the pavement, or chipseal replaced with asphalt. In some cases a thicker asphalt layer is used in major motorways around the country. With some materials such as asphalt being significantly more expensive, the design must also balance cost with the traffic volume and type.
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Whakapā mai – Get in touchIf you spot an issue at a work site after hours, call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 444449). Sign-up to receive these regular newsletters:
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