Peninsula progress

All go on the Awakino Tunnel Bypass

If you’ve travelled on State Highway 3 through the Awakino Gorge recently, you will have noticed that work on bypassing the century-old Awakino tunnel is in full swing.

The 2.3km project involves building two bridges over the Awakino River as well as a passing lane and realigning a section of highway north of the tunnel. 

“Once completed the bypass will make travel on this stretch of SH3 safer and quicker for about two and a half thousand vehicles that use this road daily,” says NZ Transport Agency Portfolio Manager Darryl Coalter. 

In the first couple of months contractor Fulton Hogan has built a temporary bridge to allow construction traffic to access the piece of land known as the peninsula, between the site of the two new bridges.

Meanwhile at the northern end of the site, work has begun on the 30-metre high cut on Hammonds Hill, which will remove a sharp bend so that the highway can be improved.   

Around 600 metres of retaining walls are being built as part of the project, with walls currently underway at either end of the site. Temporary traffic lights are in place while these walls are being built and will remain in place during the 2019 Christmas holiday period.

When these walls are finished, disruption to SH3 traffic will be minimal until the work begins to tie the new road into the existing road, which is expected to begin in late 2020.

Once the new stretch of SH3 is open, travellers will still be able to experience the historic tunnel, with a rest area and walkway to the tunnel part being part of the project.

The construction team will be taking a well-earned break from 20 December until 6 January, however erosion control and traffic management monitoring will continue. Anything of concern can be reported to the Awakino Tunnel Bypass hotline on 0800 000 085.

Mt Messenger Bypass

An Environment Court hearing in July considered some appeals to the Mt Messenger Bypass RMA consents and the Notice of Requirement that were granted last year. The Environment Court has yet to release a decision on the appeals.

While the detailed design work for the project has been mostly completed, work continues on the environmental programme, and progressing property acquisition matters.

Drone operator Stefan Cook on site

Mt Messenger Alliance ‘flying high’ at Engineering NZ awards

Customised drone technology used to find homes of fast-moving, tiny bats around Mt Messenger’s rugged, steep terrain was a finalist in the recent Engineering New Zealand ENVI awards.

Last summer the Mt Messenger Bypass project team set out to track the critically endangered long-tailed bats to confirm their roosts in really challenging country.

Mt Messenger Alliance Manager Bruce Symmans says with ingenuity our team met the challenge by using drone technology – specially developed for bat tracking.

“The modified drone was a breakthrough. It was critical to identifying bats and their families in trees across 15,000 ha,” he says.

The technology can be used for a range of animal tracking applications, and will likely change the way ecologists resource similar projects.

The Mt Messenger Bypass project has a planned pest control programme covering 3,650 ha to protect the environment, including long-tailed bats.

Pest management is a key aspect of our comprehensive ecology programme to help balance the effects of the bypass and greatly improve the natural environment in the project area and beyond.

See our video showing this bat technology in action.

Work progressing well at Ladies Mile

Safety and resilience improvements well on track

Work to improve safety and resilience on State Highway 3 between Awakino Gorge and Mt Messenger is progressing well.

Project Manager Campbell McKegg says the team has completed earthworks and drainage improvements at Ladies Mile and are currently rebuilding a culvert under the state highway. 

“Work to build retaining walls in the Awakino Gorge to stabilise existing roadside slopes is scheduled to get underway after the holiday period,” says Mr McKegg.

“The retaining walls will prevent the road slipping away into the river, making it safer for motorists and reducing the risk of road closures and delays.”

This work will be undertaken by Schick Construction and is expected to be complete by winter 2020.

Early safety improvements completed last year included roadside safety barriers in high-risk areas, rumble strips, electronic curve warning signs, new formalised pull-over areas and a new slow vehicle bay at Awakau Road.

Native long finned eels being transported

Fish ferried to safety

When drainage works at Ladies Mile required a stream running alongside the highway to be temporarily dammed, we brought in a specialist fish trapping company to transport the stream’s residents to safety.

The team at River Lake Ltd carefully relocated six different species from Omoao Stream, including native long finned eels, whitebait and Paratya shrimp.

Watch out for work on SH3

State Highway 3 is going to be a busy place with road works this summer, so motorists travelling between Waikato and Taranaki will soon experience safer, more enjoyable journeys.

The Awakino Tunnel Bypass is currently the main construction site on SH3. Much of the work is happening away from the main highway, so overall disruption is being kept to a minimum through to the scheduled completion date of mid-2021. Retaining walls are currently being built at either end of the site, with traffic down to one lane and controlled by lights.

Other SH3 works currently underway include the following:

• Passing lane construction at Ladies Mile, near Awakino. Traffic management is expected to be in place until around April 2020.
• Retaining walls being built at Mangaotaki and in the Awakino Gorge. There is also reseal and repair at various sites in the Gorge. All of these are scheduled to be finished before Christmas.
• Resealing works at various sites between Mokau and New Plymouth throughout the summer.

All motorists travelling through work sites are encouraged to stick to signposted speed limits and be patient, for their safety and for the safety of those working on site.

Thanks for your patience while we carry out this important work on SH3.

More information

For more information on the Awakino Gorge to Mt Messenger Programme, contact us at SH3@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/a2mm