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Transport Rebuild East Coast

TREC Hawke's Bay recovery update

Issue 22

11 July 2025

 

Tēnā koe,

In this edition we introduce a new project starting later this month at Tarawera culverts on State Highway 5 (SH5), provide a progress update on Devil’s Corner on State Highway 2 (SH2) and wrap up our final project on State Highway 50 (SH50).

We have a few more projects starting later this year, which are highlighted in our Site Snapshot section below. We’ll share more details nearer the time.

Thanks for your ongoing patience and support as we continue our recovery mahi.
 

 

It’s (almost) a wrap on SH50

Our final TREC recovery site on SH50, at Glencoe Gorge, is almost complete. We’re now back to 2 lanes and are in the final stages at this underslip site, making sure everything is performing as it should.

To repair the underslip caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, an Ecoreef buttress (supporting wall) was constructed from more than 800 hexagonal blocks filled with material. This New Zealand designed block system helps create an extremely strong structure – a solution that best suited this site.

These beautifully stacked blocks can’t be seen from the road but our drone photo shows how the natural shape blends into the environment. The site has now been hydroseeded, where we spray a mixture of water, seeds, mulch and fertiliser to promote growth of covering vegetation.

Progress photos of work at Glencoe Gorge.
 

 

Work starting at Tarawera culverts, SH5

Later this month, TREC and local contractors are starting work at Tarawera culverts, about an hour north of Napier on SH5, to restore 2 culverts damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Culverts are big hidden pipes under the road that help guide water away from a road to a waterway. This helps reduce the risk of flooding and damage to the road in bad weather as well as erosion over time.

Our focus is on repairing both culvert inlets and fixing the erosion caused by high water flow when the culverts were blocked by debris.

Traffic management will be in place with an estimated travel delay of up to 5 minutes. Work is expected to be completed by late November.

Overflow from the culverts has caused erosion.

 

 

Progress at Māori Gully, SH5

On SH5 between Glengarry and Te Pōhue the road runs narrowly along the top of Māori Gully with the Pokopoko stream below. Three slips caused by Cyclone Gabrielle are being repaired with work expected to be complete this month (subject to weather and other unforeseen issues).

Two of the slips were repaired with erosion control matting held in place by soil anchors so plant life can grow through it. The other slip, shown in the photo below, is more complex and we’ve built a 2.5m high and 24m long tied-back retaining wall to support the roadside. 

We’re now installing new guardrail which will be followed by road surfacing, and then the road will be back to 2 lanes.

Slip 1 at Māori Gully where a retaining wall has been built and anchored under the road.

 

 

Building stability at Devil’s Corner

Check out our progress photo at Devil’s Corner – Project I – on SH2.

Here, at our largest Devil’s Elbow site, we’ve now completed piling and installed permanent anchors into the bank below the road to support the road above. Next, we’ll build a 12m high MSE (mechanically stabilised earth) retaining wall. This is due to start in August.

The wall will be built in layers using a combination of rip rap (rock) baskets, geogrids (reinforced plastic) and compacted aggregate backfill. These will work together to create a stable earth wall structure. New drainage will also be installed to channel water away and protect this area from future erosion.

Progress made at Devil's Corner from November 2024 until early July.
 

 

3D tech for smarter faster repairs 

Before repairing the damage, TREC needs to know exactly what and where it is. Traditionally surveyors made several site visits to take hundreds of photos and measurements from every angle. From dangling under bridges over raging rivers or down a sheer cliff face to get images to waiting engineers so they could design the repairs. 

Now a single visit can get the designers pretty much everything they need, and faster. Using a humble looking grey box on their tripod, TREC surveyors are creating highly detailed 3D worlds showing every nook, cranny and hairline crack of a structure.

This ‘box’ is a sophisticated cutting-edge laser scanner. Once set up and programmed by experienced hands, it spins around to capture millions of precise measurements, angles and photos within minutes. 

Combined with powerful LiDAR drone images mapping the land from above, the 3D world created on the design engineer’s computer screen can be spun, pivoted, zoomed in to the tiniest hairline crack, and reveal the structure’s inner skeleton.

This futuristic technology is helping TREC make significant time and resource savings. Engineers can design quicker with more precision, contractors can better see the detail of what they’re working on, and suppliers to get more exact details to deliver materials that fit.

Laser scanning underway at Bridge 217 which spans the Tūtaekurī River. (Photo taken while rail protection was in place to keep works safe around trains.)
 

 

Waikare Bailey bridge replacement

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) is replacing the temporary Bailey bridge on SH2 at Waikare Gorge with a wider and stronger temporary bridge.

It will be installed during a 24-hour closure starting 10am Saturday 30 August and ending at 10am on Sunday 31 August. This will be followed by three overnight closures to widen the approaches.

The new bridge (an Acrow bridge) will remain in use until the Waikare Gorge realignment project is complete.

More information.
 

 

Site Snapshot

SH2 Hawke's Bay North

Underway:

  • Underslip repairs at Mohaka Rail Viaduct are on track for mid-August completion.   

Upcoming:

  • At White Pine Bush we’ll be repairing another underslip and stormwater drainage. This is expected to begin in spring.  
  • At Lake Tūtira we’ll be completing underslip repairs. Work is expected to start in September. 
  • The road surface where we installed a sheetpiling retaining wall at Sandy Creek will be renewed in spring, taking advantage of better weather conditions so the road surface has the best chance of longevity.  

SH5 Napier to Taupō

Underway:

  • The retaining wall at the largest of the 3 underslips at Māori Gully is now complete with guardrail being installed this week (see above).    

Upcoming:

  • Tarawera culverts repairs are starting soon (see above).
  • At Eskdale Substation, we’ll be repairing the damaged road shoulder with a potential buttress to support the road. Work is expected to begin in spring.
  • Further improvements at Captain’s Culvert are expected to start in spring.

SH2, SH50, SH51 Hawke’s Bay South

Underway:

  • At SH50 Glencoe Gorge underslip repairs are almost complete (see above).

Upcoming:

  • Final planning is underway for permanent repairs to the Tutaekuri Bridge (Waitangi) on State Highway 51 (SH51), with construction expected to begin in August. Repairs focus on 3 key areas: removing debris left by the cyclone, concrete repairs to piles in the river and replacing damaged bracing beams to restore the structural integrity of the bridge.

SH38

Upcoming

  • Planning for repairs on 5 remaining underslips is underway. 
  • These sites include: 2 retreats (road is cut back into the hillside), 1 MSE (mechanically stabilised earth) buttress, 2 locations requiring a total of 3 tied retaining walls up to 3.5m high – these require anchors and tie rods below the road to hold the wall top in position.
 


 

Rail progress

We've added the site numbers below, so you can see the locations on our interactive map. This map is updated every 2 weeks.

Rail 
 
We've completed 23 rail sites and have 2 more sites starting later this month:  

  • West of Ormondville we’ll be repairing a shallow landslide above the track and replacing a culvert (A3012).
  • North of Napier we’ll be removing the silt built up during Cyclone Gabrielle and clearing debris from 3 culverts between Turitia and Wairoa (A7020).

Hastings south culvert improvements:

We’re replacing 10 culverts underneath the rail lines and have now completed 7.

  • We have 2 more in construction – just west of Ormondville (A9080) and just north of Waipukurau (A9100).
  • One more site will start soon - at Waipawa (A9115).

Bridge 217 (beside Tutaekuri Bridge (Waitangi) on SH51) repairs are expected to begin in late winter. 
 

 

Whakapā mai – Get in touch

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

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Local road network

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

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