New road alignment at one of the slip sites

The end of a long road

Crews have been working at isolated locations in the Gorge for nearly a year. But with some final supports being installed and road surfaces being finished, the end is in sight.

Work started under tough conditions as an urgent response to extensive damage done to the highway by a severe July 2020 storm.

All repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of June with the road fully restored to traffic, including heavy freight.

Retaining wall extending along repaired hillside

Opening for Queen's Birthday weekend

Travellers and local residents have been allowed through the Gorge on several occasions this year as we paused our work for the Easter and ANZAC holidays.

Work will pause one more time this Queen’s Birthday weekend (5-7 June) with the Gorge opening for convoys of light vehicles. Details are here.

For our neighbours, this doesn’t just mean time saved from taking an alternate route. It also means they will be among the first to see our new retaining walls, road alignments and reshaped road shoulders along the route.

Crew drilling road support ties into the hillside at the main slip

Work detail

Eight separate slips caused by the July 2020 storm have presented eight different challenges for workers in narrow areas on steep hillside terrain.

We have done significant strengthening work and made extensive ground-stabilising efforts at the main slip to ensure heavy freight movement can safely resume along the highway.

Right now, we have multiple crews working on several activities at once on both sides of the road at various sites. They are completing drainage above and below ground so that in the future stormwater will be drawn away from vulnerable areas.

We are also looking forward to finally sealing our road surfaces. We're crossing our fingers for a window of good weather so we can lay chip seal down.

More information

For more information on the SH1 Mangamuka Gorge slip repairs, contact us at northlandproject@nzta.govt.nz

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