Project update

24 October 2024

The area to the south of the future 235-metre tunnel is a hive of activity.

Earthworks restart for new construction season

Since our last update, we’ve entered the 2024/25 construction season, and although wet weather has caused some delays, we’re well placed to meet this year’s goals.

On the south side of Mt Messenger, a 43-metre-tall crane has been successfully demobilised after helping complete a programme of ground improvement work. The team is now focussed on Cut 14, a spur that we’re excavating to create access to the future 125-metre bridge. Bridge construction is due to begin in the new year.

Further along the route, we’ve been concentrating on establishing a base for our tunnelling team, before they make a start on the southern entrance of the 235-metre tunnel.

On the northern side of Mt Messenger, the cableway has been busy transporting equipment into Fill 12, a 660,000m3 worksite that extends 500m from the future northern exit of the tunnel.

With the amount of rainfall in the past few months, we’ve been diligently making sure our extensive erosion and sediment controls are operating at full strength. This protects nearby waterways from the potential of silt washing into them from our worksites.

Elsewhere our pest management team has completed a rat control operation in the western Parininihi, aiming to reduce rodent numbers significantly, in time for the bird breeding season. This has involved workers keeping bait stations topped up in difficult terrain and sometimes atrocious weather conditions.

Kiwi have already started breeding and our ecologists recently uplifted 8 eggs from four nests. These were safely transported to the Gallagher Kiwi Burrow at Wairakei, where they’ll be hatched, and the chicks raised until they’re big enough to fight off stoats. The young birds will then be released in the pest-controlled part of Parininihi.

Separate to Te Ara o Te Ata, maintenance crews will be continuing the resurfacing work from earlier this year on SH3 over Mt Messenger in November, requiring a series of overnight road closures between the 10th and 22nd.

If you’re planning a night trip through the area, please check the road’s status on NZTA’s Journey Planner site: journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic.

Te Ara o Te Ata – Mt Messenger Bypass and Rotokare Scenic Reserve welcome striped skinks to Taranaki

Rotokare Scenic Reserve, in South Taranaki, recently welcomed a new resident: the elusive striped skink - with the support of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Te Ara o Te Ata project partner Ngāti Tama and local mana whenua Ngāti Tupaia.

This vulnerable taonga species now has a new home, thanks to a partnership between the Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust and Te Ara o Te Ata – Mt Messenger Bypass project.

The striped skink (Oligosoma striatum), known for its lightning-quick movements and distinctive pale stripes, is one of the country’s most cryptic and scarcely sighted lizards.

The team from Te Ara o Te Ata has constructed a temporary holding area at Rotokare Scenic Reserve for any striped skinks discovered during the project’s construction.

The area will provide a safe environment where the skinks can acclimatise to their new surroundings before exploring the broader reserve through the treetops.

Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust Conservation Manager Fiona Gordon says striped skinks haven’t been found during formal lizard surveys at Rotokare, but it’s believed they were once present as they’ve been located in pockets around South Taranaki. “We are excited to offer a safe home for this at-risk skink species in a space completely free of rodents, one of their main predators,” she says.

So far three striped skinks have been encountered during Te Ara o Te Ata’s work in Parininihi. Specialist ecologists relocated them to Auckland Zoo temporarily, ahead of rehoming at Rotokare. Any further striped skinks found by the project will be transferred directly to Rotokare.

The Trust is also working with the Department of Conservation to secure a permit to transfer further striped skinks from other locations across Taranaki if needed. It is hoped that skinks will flourish in their new home, creating a secure population in South Taranaki.

Check out our latest videos

We are regularly adding videos to our project website and social media pages. The latest is the one pictured below - a timelapse of work taking place to raise the valley floor near the southern entrance to the tunnel. This is preparatory work ahead of a 120-tonne roadheader machine being brought onsite to begin excavating the tunnel. 

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More information

For more information on Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass, please visit our website, email SH3@nzta.govt.nz or call 0800 BYPASS.