TREC Tairāwhiti recovery update

Issue 35

28 November 2025

Tēnā koe

In this edition, we share updates from several State Highway 35 (SH35) sites – including special deliveries to Hikuwai Bridge, progress in the Mangahauini Gorge, and how we’re protecting the Waiapu River while working around Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge. 

You’ll also see some great photos of slip repair work on SH35 at Tōrere, along with the Hakanui Straight flood resilience project on State Highway 2 (SH2) north of Gisborne, where the team has hit a major milestone weeks ahead of schedule.

Thanks for your support and patience as we continue this important recovery mahi.

Final push: SH35 Kopuaroa works to be complete by Christmas

Crews are busy at our Kopuaroa 1 site, repairing an underslip (beneath the highway). 

A soil nail wall has been installed and is helping to stabilise and strengthen the slope, with work on track to wrap up by Christmas. 

As part of the repairs, there have been a number of concrete deliveries over the past week for shotcreting (spraying on liquid concrete) work. The site is narrow with limited room to manoeuvre however the team managed to keep the road open and traffic moving throughout these critical concrete pours. A big win for road users and our crews. 

For more information about recent activity, read the traffic bulletin here.

Kopuaroa 1 site, showing the tight working area.

Special delivery at Hikuwai

Multiple deliveries last week brought our first bridge casings to the Hikuwai Bridge site.

We have 16 of these casings each weighing approximately 13,000kg and measuring between 8 to 12m in length and 1.8m wide. 

We’re also building the concrete pile gates/early form work (wooden frames) to retain the concrete.  Pile gates help crews guide and install the pile casings safely, preventing unexpected movement. The 2 square concrete bases with wooden frames each measure 4m by 4m and are held firmly in place by large 1 tonne rock bags to keep everything steady and supported during construction. Once the casings and concrete are in place, the formwork will no longer be needed and will be removed.

Piling is scheduled to begin next week, and we’ll share a closer look at this milestone in our next issue.

Find out more, visit SH35 Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

Our first pile casing arriving on site (left). The early formwork (wooden frames) that will guide the casings into place (top right). A closer look at the rock bags, which have also been used across a number of TREC recovery sites (bottom right).

Resilience rising from the riverbed in the Mangahauini Gorge

Recovery efforts at Mangahauini Gorge are in full swing ahead of the Christmas break, with crews tackling everything from installing hanbars, repairing the sheet pile wall, drilling new drainage and shifting thousands of tonnes of slip material. 

Almost 60% of the 1,300 concrete hanbars that will form the new roughened channel have been made, with around 500 delivered to site. More will be delivered in the coming weeks, with the roughened channel on track to be complete in mid- 2026, weather permitting. 

Between the northern and southern sites, a rig has started drilling 25 horizontal ‘bored drains’ deep into the riverbank, some reaching up to 60m.  

This type of drainage helps draw out groundwater, reducing pressure and helping to stabilise the slope. They have also been used on SH2 Otoko Hill, another area known for its ground instability. 

Hapū kaitiaki continue to work with TREC’s ecology, environmental, and construction teams to help ensure environmental consent conditions are met. They also run cultural inductions for staff members and contractors on site. 

Find out more, visit SH35 Mangahauini Gorge | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

It’s all go at Mangahauini Gorge, where crews are carrying out various works from placing hanbars (left) and strengthening the riverbank (top right) to repairing the damaged sheet pile wall (bottom right).

SH35 Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge – working safely around the awa

We’re ensuring we protect the awa (river) while repairing cyclone damage at the Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge on SH35 near Ruatoria.

This graphic shows the techniques we’re using. 

The expert ecologists and hapū kaitiaki on our team help ensure our mahi is guided by both science and cultural care. 

Bird nest checks are well underway, with de-fishing expected to start in early December. Find out more: TREC-rotokautuku-waiapu-bridge-infosheet-october-2025.pdf

SH35 Rototahe down to one lane until Christmas

Flood resilience work at Rototahe is progressing well, with Parata Contracting Limited busy with significant culvert upgrades and road widening.

A 230-metre section of highway is currently reduced to one lane until Christmas. 

Unfortunately, our crews are experiencing issues with drivers running red lights and speeding through the site. 

Please slow down and be patient, our workers are local, your friends and whānau and we want them getting home safe each night.

Take a closer look at our graphic outlining the improvements on our project website: TREC Rototahe flood resilience | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

Culvert installation underway at Rototahe.

Rock solid progress at SH35 Tōrere

Thirty-two steel soil nails are now locked into the hillside at the underslip site (beneath the highway), and the team has recently been concentrating on finishing pouring layers of ‘no fines' concrete, a special concrete mix that will let water drain through.

At the overslip site (above the highway) all 9 layers of the lower MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) wall are finished and the crew is focusing on building up the bulkfill (earth and rocks), adding drainage and carrying out testing.  We’re on track to be finished in March 2026.

All 9 layers of the lower MSE wall - part of the overslip repair - are complete (left). The final layer (top right) before the crew started building up and compacting the bulkfill (bottom right).

Chill out this summer

Summer is roadwork season. Longer days and warmer weather mean crews are out in force across Tairāwhiti. With recovery and maintenance in full swing, our highways are busy. Unfortunately, we’re already seeing risky behaviour. 

• Running red lights: traffic signals are timed to let one direction through at a time. Running a red light throws the system out of sync, risks crashes, and can force crews to reset the lights, delaying everyone.

• Speeding through sites: speed limits protect crews, drivers, and recent work like new asphalt. Ignoring them puts lives and progress at risk.

Cameras are operating, and we’re working with Police and the community to keep sites safe.  Please be patient and allow extra time to travel through Tairāwhiti this summer.

Did you know?

Noticed a road work site where nobody’s working but there are still cones and temporary speed limits?

• They are protecting our work and keeping you safe. 
• Driving too fast can flick stones, damage new seal, and undo hours of progress.

Traffic management keeps you and your vehicle safe and make sure the mahi lasts. So even if the site looks quiet, it’s still live.  Respect the work zone, stick to the speed limits, and help us finish the job.

SH2 Hakanui Straight: Road on the rise

The team working to make SH2 near Te Karaka more flood-resilient are making great progress.  

This week, traffic was switched onto a freshly built-up section beside the highway, clearing the way for the next stage of works. Two lanes are now open to traffic. 

Site supervisor Ross Troughton says the traffic switch is a major milestone for the project.

“With vehicles now off the highway, we can really get stuck into the next stage – raising a 750m stretch of the existing highway by about 3m.” 

Around 55,000 m3 (or 22 Olympic swimming pools) of bulk fill will be used to raise the highway.  Around half of this has been brought to site so far. 

Crews have also installed 3 of the 8 culverts on the route – these range in size from 375mm to 1.8m in diameter, with the largest ones being those crossing SH2.  

The project, which will make this flood-prone section of road stronger and more resilient, is on track to be complete by mid-2026 (weather permitting).

Until then, traffic management, including speed restrictions and lane changes will be in place as needed. Please allow extra time to travel through the site.

More information: Hakanui Straight Flood Resilience | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

Two lanes are now open to traffic on SH2 Hakanui Straight.

Thank you to our budding artists

Two Kura Kaupapa have helped bring colour and life into the SH35 Hikuwai Bridge office by colouring in a series of on-site signage panels, turning practical messages into art.

To Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Mangatuna and Te Kura o Mata – ngā mihi nui. Thank you for your enthusiasm and hard work.

We look forward to many more opportunities to connect, collaborate and celebrate with you.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Mangatuna showcasing their artwork and Te Kura o Mata signage got a thumbs up from our senior leaders.

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
• Gabion wall - baskets filled with rocks
• Hanbar – specially designed interlocking concrete blocks
• MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) – a retaining wall construction technique used to stabilise slopes
• Reno mattress – shallow basket filled with rocks
• 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
• Swale - a shallow, planted channel that slows and filters stormwater
• Willow wall – using willows as ‘living walls’ to stabilise slips

SH2 underway

• Otoko Hill (Site K) - overslip repairs.
• Hakanui Straight (formerly called Nesbitt’s Dip) project – flood improvements.

SH35 underway

• Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement – enabling (early) works.
• Mangahauini Gabion Wall – Stage 2 – soil nails, buttress and rip rap at the bottom of the existing gabion wall. 
• Mangahauini Gorge – river works, drainage and culvert upgrades, highway repair and rebuild.
• Kopuaroa Slip 1 – reinstate SH35 to 2 lanes by installing a soil anchor and shotcrete wall.
• Tōrere – underslip and overslip repairs.
• Kemps Hill subsidence – buttress repair using a willow wall. Three faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes.
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge repairs – strengthening works.
• Rototahe – flood resilience.
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge revetment – scour protection.

SH35 coming soon

• Maraehara – underslip repairs.
• Uawa River Scour – two underslips to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes.
• Kopuaroa – drainage improvements.
• Kopuaroa pavement works
• Paronga (D9) – drainage improvements.

Whakapā mai – Get in touch

• Email us
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Call us: 0800 80 TREC (0800 80 8732)

If you spot an issue at a work site after hours, call 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 444449).

Sign-up to receive these regular newsletters:

• TREC Pānui (general newsletter)
• TREC Hawke's Bay regional update
• This TREC Tairāwhiti regional update

Local road network

Gisborne District Council is responsible for local roading recovery projects. More information.

Up-to-date information on local road closures.