SH43 Forgotten World Highway

July update

4 July 2024

Winter works in the Tāngarākau Gorge

It hasn’t always been ‘smooth sealing’ but we were able to complete a significant amount of work in the Tāngarākau Gorge over the summer construction season, with daily road closures in place. A total of 5km of road through the gorge was sealed bringing the total length sealed to 7km. Three retaining walls have also been built to improve the resilience of the road.

Once the weather warms up, we’ll seal the final 5.7km section of unsealed road and all going well, we expect to complete the project in full by Christmas 2024.

We appreciate the support and cooperation of the community and visitors while the daily road closures were in place.

Next steps

A number of culverts need to be installed and replaced in the gorge before the final section of road can be sealed. Culverts are pipes that are installed under the road to carry water from the gutters.

Installing these pipes is crucial to the project and can’t be done with traffic on the road so we need to stop traffic intermittently for 5 days to get the work done.

Traffic Management  Monday 22 July to Friday 26 July for culvert work

Between the hours of 7am and 5pm traffic will be stopped intermittently at either end of the gorge. 

People wanting to travel through the gorge should plan for possible delays of up to 45 mins.

This approach will allow the contractor to bring in extra crews and build all the culverts at once, during a period when traffic volumes are lower. This will reduce the longer-term impact on road users and keep the project on track for completion before Christmas.

After this work is done, crews will take a break for 2 weeks and the road will be open with no delays. Work will resume under stop/go traffic control with delays of 10-15 minutes on 12 August for the remainder of the winter.

We apologise for the ongoing impacts and thank you for your support as we work to complete this project, which will bring so many benefits to the region.

Bird's eye view of Kahouri Stream Bridge

Kahouri Stream Bridge nearing completion

Since opening the new bridge to traffic in May, crews have been busy completing the final parts of the project.

Last week guardrail was installed to reduce the risk of run-off-road crashes, and the road was sealed. 

Next crews will then create a pathway to the old bridge, which is being retained as a walking and cycling route and carry out planting in the area.

More information

For more information on the SH43 Forgotten World Highway project, contact us at fwh@nzta.govt.nz

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