TREC Hawke's Bay recovery update

4 April 2025

Tēnā koe,

In this fortnight’s newsletter we take you to the underslips being worked on at Sandy Creek on State Highway 2 (SH2), the final site at Mohaka, and the train management required when working on rail. 

With public holidays coming up for Easter, and just a few days later for ANZAC day some of our sites will be closed for that period, and others will be open.

We will have 3 state highway sites active on the 3 days between Easter and Anzac day including, State Highway (SH5) Māori Gully, SH2 Mohaka Rail Viaduct and SH2 Sandy Creek underslips.

Sandy Creek shows steep site where crew work

Check out our video on work underway to repair 3 underslips at Sandy Creek, just north of Tūtira on SH2, to fix damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

To repair the slips we’re drilling soil nails into the steep slip face, adding erosion matting and rip rap (large rocks) to stabilise the bank and prevent further erosion. and constructing a new guardrail system.

Like the Sandy Creek name suggests, there’s a stream just below where we’re working. TREC’s strong environmental controls help ensure slip material won’t enter the stream and aquatic life is safeguarded.

This project is expected to be completed in May 2025.

Work underway at final Mohaka site

Earlier this week we started work at the Mohaka Rail Viaduct underslip site, our final site on SH2 between Pūtōrino and Wairoa. The view is stunning but the steep and narrow site poses tricky challenges for our engineers and contractor.

We’re working hard to maintain enough road width for large over-dimensional vehicles used in forestry and other industries to keep moving through, while also keeping our crew safe.

Please follow all posted speed limits to ensure you pass through slowly. Thank you for your patience and support - we want everyone to get home safe.

The crew are stabilising the underslip by installing 50 micropiles and 25 ground anchors. This work is scheduled to be completed under a single lane with stop/go traffic management.

Construction is expected to be completed in August 2025.

The narrow and steep site at Mohaka creates a challenging work environment.

Keeping trains moving to help deliver goods on time

This month, the number of TREC’s active construction sites on KiwiRail’s Palmerston North to Napier rail line are increasing. To minimise disruption, we align our work with freight train timetables and work closely with train controllers to help keep freight trains on schedule.

As part of our safety focus, KiwiRail protection officers are stationed on site with TREC crews, informing them when a train is about 30 minutes away. This enables crew to clear the site in time for the train to pass safely. Once the train has passed, the protection officer confirms when it is safe to resume work.

We are are scheduled to begin construction on 5 new sites in April, while also completing sites currently in construction.

The freight train passing safely past a site just south of Hastings at Pekapeka.

During and after

The main construction work is finished at Devil's Elbow Project R, with minor work being completed over the next couple of weeks. In the 'after' image you can see the new bright green hydroseed that has been sprayed on both sides of the road to regrass those bare patches.

Site Snapshot

SH2 Devil's Elbow

• Projects R and H - we have completed the main areas of construction, with some minor works before disestablishing the sites, such as hydroseeding.
• Project I – almost half the permanent anchors are in and grouted ready to start testing.
• Project J – is 75% complete, with the final stage paused to be tied in with other work. This is scheduled to be completed in May.
• Project O - will be coming back into construction at night for 3 weeks starting after Anzac weekend on 28 April.

SH2 Hawke’s Bay North

• Underslip repairs at Mohaka Rail Viaduct, the final site in this area, started this week (see above).
• Slip stabilisation at Sandy Creek (see above) continues to make good progress and we have started the guardrail preparation and expect to be finished by early May.
• The road surface where we installed the sheetpiling retaining wall at Sandy Creek will be renewed alongside some NZTA road surface renewals as part of their annual maintenance programme. These will be done next construction season, taking advantage of better weather conditions so the pavement has the best chance of longevity.
• White Pine Bush underslip repairs (a new site) is expected to begin late July.

SH5 Napier to Taupō

• Repairs for the 3 underslips at Māori Gully have begun. Initial work focused on installing the barrier on the northbound lane. Excavation has also started for the trenches where anchor rods and tie back anchor blocks will be installed to help stabilise the road.
• Tarawera Culvert repairs will begin in the second half of the year.
• Captain‘s Culvert and Eskdale substation shoulder repairs will begin in Spring.

SH2, SH50, SH51 Hawke’s Bay South

• At State Highway 50 (SH50) Glencoe Gorge underslip repairs are going well with the foundation layer of Ecoreef blocks being filled. Approximately 35% of these hexagonal blocks have been placed. 
• State Highway 51 (SH51) Tutaekuri (Waitangi) Bridge repairs are planned to start in May.

SH38

• Tarapatiki underslip repairs will be active from 15 April - 24 April.

Rail progress

This week we are adding the site numbers, so you can see the locations on our interactive map. This map is updated every two weeks.

Six sites are underway:

• We are repairing a shallow landslide above the track in Ormondville (A3015).
• In the same cluster between Ormondville and Kopua we are repairing the embankment failure below the rail (A3018).
• South-west of these sites we are repairing the embankment failure below Bridge 151 over the Mangatewainui river (A3009).
• We are repairing the washout to embankment and undertaking drainage repairs in Dannevirke (A3007).
• Between Makotuku and Matamau we are repairing a shallow landslide above the track (A3010).
• We have started repairing a washout of an embankment and the shallow landslide above the track. We are replacing the culvert during a ‘block of line’ (period of time when a railway line is closed for maintenance or construction) the weekend of 12 April and installing a 750mm stormwater pipe (A3011).

Starting soon:

• Repairing 2 rock fall scaling sites in the Manawatū Gorge (A3002 and A3003).
• In the Manawatū Gorge we will also repair a shallow landslide above the track (A3004).
• We will be repairing the washout of the rail embankment in Poukawa (A3021).

Bridge 217 (beside SH51 Tutaekuri Bridge) is programmed to begin repairs in July.

Whakapā mai – Get in touch

• Email us
• Website
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• 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).

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• TREC Pānui (regular newsletter)
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• TREC Tairāwhiti regional update (fortnightly)

Local road network

Hawke’s Bay councils are responsible for local roading recovery projects.

• Napier City Council
• Hastings District Council
• Wairoa District Council
• Central HB District Council