TREC Tairāwhiti recovery update

Issue 20

2 May 2025

Tēnā koe

Crews are back at work after the roadworks paused over the Easter and Anzac break to help holiday traffic travel through the region.

In this edition, we update you on progress for the Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement, work starting at Paronga (D9 Tikitiki), and wildlife thriving in the Mangahauini River.

Thanks again for your ongoing patience as we carry out this important mahi.

SH35: Hikuwai Bridge update

With this important project started, in every issue going forward we’ll provide an update on the recovery work at Hikuwai Bridge No.1.

Enabling (early) works are currently underway until mid-2025 and include 3 milestones:

• Site set-up (office and compound/laydown areas)
• Temporary road construction
• Demolition of the old bridge

Currie Construction is well into the demolition of the remains of the old bridge with the southern abutment (bridge support) knocked down last week (before/after pictured below). There is 1 more abutment and 2 piers still to be demolished.

A 30-tonne digger with a breaker (excavator) and claw attached break down the concrete to smaller pieces before removing it from site (pictured). A 15-tonne digger is also being used to support the works.

Visit our project webpage for more information.

Before and after - removal of the bridge's southern abutment (support).

SH35: Paronga (D9 Tikitiki) repair work underway

A karakia led by Iwi kainga, Hunaara Maxwell Waerehu and supported by Raina Smith has marked the start of work at Paronga (D9 just north of Tikitiki) to repair 2 underslips.

Work includes excavating the slips to level them before adding engineered fill (material) and geotextile fabric. This will be compacted into layers back up to road level. As part of the work a drainage culvert will also be upgraded to help redirect water away from the area.

Subsidence work at Kemps Hill, located south of Paronga, is scheduled to get underway next week (subject to weather and other conditions).

More information.

Work has started at Paronga (D9 Tikitiki) following a karakia led by local hapu and attended by contractors Troy Wheeler and TREC staff.

SH2: Further work at Morere

From Monday, crews are scheduled to start rebuilding a 300m section of State Highway 2 (SH2) at Morere following the installation of extensive drainage in the area.

Travellers on SH2 between Gisborne and Napier should plan for short delays of 5 to 10 minutes until the work is complete in about a week.

Stop/go traffic management and speed restrictions will be in place each day 6am-6pm.

This work is weather-dependent, and dates may change if required.

The new drainage will help improve road stability by redirecting water away from the highway and reducing water pressure on the surrounding hills – helping to address previous challenges with road movement in the area.

Before and after of drainage work at Morere.

Reducing highway flooding at Rototahe and Nesbitt’s Dip

State Highway 35 (SH35) at Rototahe and SH2 at Nesbitt’s Dip are flood prone. To address this, we’re working on projects to raise the roads and improve drainage, which will help keep these routes open.

Rototahe: The plan includes raising a section of the highway by almost 1 metre (0.85m) and installing culverts to improve drainage. Resource consent has been lodged, and work is set to start this Spring. This Uawa Live Facebook video shows the highway experiencing flooding during a weather event.

Nesbitt’s Dip: This project involves raising the road by around 3 metres and incorporating culverts to better manage floodwaters. The team is working with affected landowners and starting early planning work around procurement. 

We’ll share more information about these projects before any work starts.

Flooding at Rototahe during a weather event.

SH35: Hidden survivors - wildlife thriving in the Mangahauini River

Cyclone Gabrielle left its mark across the region, bringing devastation but also unveiling surprising stories about resilience—both human and aquatic. 

Last issue we shared a story about how eDNA has been used to help the TREC team uncover the types of eels, fish and other critters in the river as part of keeping them safely away from any work. 

What we didn’t touch on was the astonishing abundance of wildlife thriving in the river, which was re-shaped by slips and flooding. 

Eels – both longfin and shortfin, and native fish such as kōaro and smelt, were all detected and relocated - painting a picture of a river teeming with life despite the challenges.

Various fish species relocated by our Environment team in the Mangahauini River.

State highway snapshot

Below is a snapshot of construction works either underway or coming soon. You can also view completed, current and future work sites on our interactive map.

Here are some of the construction terms we use:

• Buttress – supporting structure
• Counterfort drain – drain that improves slope stability by controlling groundwater
• Dolosse - interlocking concrete blocks
• Gabion wall - baskets filled with rocks
• MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) – a retaining wall construction technique used to stabilise slopes
• Rip rap - large rocks
• Rock revetment – protection
• Scour - erosion
• Shotcrete – sprayed liquid concrete
• Soil anchors/soil nails – a device used to hold, restrain and support structures
• Willow wall – using willows as ‘living walls’ to stabilise slips

SH2 underway (see Otoko map)

• Otoko Hill Slip #2 (site G) - hill stabilisation using soil anchors, shotcrete, and rip rap 
• Otoko Hill (site B) – tree removal and major drainage to stabilise slopes
• Otoko Hill (site J) – retaining wall repairs and drainage installation 
• Rakauroa – repair underslip using soil anchors and shotcrete

SH2 coming soon

• Matawai Road – willow wall to stabilise slip

SH35 underway 

• Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement – enabling (early) works
• Mangahauini Gorge early investigations to help with the design of this major programme of work
• Mangahauini Gabion Wall – Stage 2 – soil nails, buttress and rip rap at the bottom of the existing gabion wall 
• Kopuaroa Slip 1 – reinstate SH35 to 2 lanes by installing a soil anchor and shotcrete wall
• Kopuaroa Slip 2 – build a 250m long buttress to support SH35 and provide additional drainage
• Opape underslip – buttress repair with gabion wall
• Tōrere – underslip and overslip repairs
• D9 Gully Site – buttress wall with MSE. Two faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes

SH35 coming soon

• Kemps Hill subsidence – buttress repair using a willow wall. Three faults to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge revetment – repair the scour at the south end of the bridge and construct a major revetment with dolosse for future-proofing
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge repairs – strengthening works 
• Makatote dropout #2 – buttress support and rip rap to prevent future river erosion
• Makatote dropout #3 – reinstating state highway to 2 lanes, buttress support and rip rap to prevent future river erosion.

Whakapā mai – Get in touch

• Email us
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• 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).

Sign-up to receive these regular newsletters:

• TREC Pānui (general newsletter)
• TREC Hawke's Bay regional update (fortnightly)
• This TREC Tairāwhiti regional update (fortnightly)

Local road network

Gisborne District Council is responsible for local roading recovery projects. More information.

Up-to-date information on local road closures.