Site 7 - Retaining wall now at full height.

Kia ora

We hope you're enjoying the summer!

The Tākaka Hill crew are back into it after a short Christmas holiday break and are making good progress on the remaining five sites under construction. More details below.

You can also find out more about what we're doing to help our native fish fauna thrive!

Site 9 - Construction of retaining wall is a third of the way completed.

Project update across all five sites

The project team are progressing with works across all five sites, helped by the recent good weather.

In particular, Sites 7 and 9 are coming along really well, with retaining walls at and near full height.

On the other hand, Sites 11 and 13 continue to provide us with big challenges that we didn't anticipate at the beginning of the project. Leaching water and poor ground conditions make it harder to reach a solid foundation to build up the retaining walls in the narrow and steep gullies.

So while progress is steadily being made, unfortunately it is not as fast as we would like.

Be assured, we are working as quickly as we can, where we can, and are aiming to have two lanes open later this year.

Below is an update on each of the five sites:

Site 6: Nearing excavation depth, can then begin construction of the pre-cast foundation pad and placement of rip-rap (large boulders which manage the water runoff).

Site 7: Retaining wall now at full height, and works have started to enable the new culvert to be extended across the rest of the road.

Site 9: Construction of the retaining wall is a third of the way completed, with good progress being made due to the recent dryspell of good weather.

Site 11: About to start construction of the retaining wall, but leaching water from the excavated bank is causing severe issues; currently working on a solution.

Site 13: Excavations have reached the final design level, but poor ground conditions (decomposed rock and weak soil) continue to provide challenges. However, the crew are making headway and construction of the foundation pad is expected to be cast in place next week.

See the latest site images here.

Longfin eel - endemic to New Zealand (Image by DOC)

Fish Passage Over Culverts

With environment sustainability top of mind, the Tākaka Hill repairs project team has been working with ecology specialists to develop a unique fish passage to ensure our native freshwater fish fauna can thrive in their habitats.

Two of the Tākaka Hill construction sites (7 and 13) have high culvert drops which will make it difficult for fish to travel upstream, over the culverts and across the highway to access their habitats. Ensuring our many species of native fish, like eels, can move within, over and through physical structures (like culverts) is essential to connect them to all the habitats they need to complete their lifecycles.

What’s our plan?

Large rock armouring will be placed with a shaped, concrete lined base in the streams below the walls to allow the young fish and eels to migrate up to the wall. From there, a rubber mat with mussel ropes will extend up to the outlet of the culvert to allow a wet surface for the fish and eels to climb and move upstream to continue their journey and lifecycles.

An interesting fact!

New Zealand's native longfin eel can live up to 80 years. When they reach their breeding size (up to 2 metres long and 40kg) they migrate to the sea. They swim for up to five or six months to tropical Pacific waters, possibly near Tonga, where they spawn and die. The eggs hatch and float back to New Zealand on ocean currents.

Essential Works Under Night Closures

Over the next few months, our crew will carry out essential drainage works - connecting culverts in the retaining walls to upstream inlet structures - across Tākaka Hill Road and the current single traffic lane.

For safety reasons and least disruption to traffic, this essential work must be done at night. We will let you know well in advance the dates for these night closures so you can plan ahead.

Doing this work ensures the safe and efficient movement of water through the sites, and will help to minimise future delays and damage to the sites during large rainfall.

If you need access over the hill for night work or essential commitments, please email takakahill@nzta.govt.nz or call Kane Reihana on 027 886 4508. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.

Access will always be available for emergency services throughout the closure.

Barrier Strikes & Repairs

Following a vehicle hitting a guardrail on Tākaka Hill recently, we had to stop work on Site 11urgently replace the section of damaged barrier under a one-night closure.

Every strike means we lose time (and money)

This work is essential for the safety of all road users and also to protect our crew working beneath the single lane road on the new retaining walls.

Please drive with care through our roadworks. Not only do further strikes to the temporary barriers create additional work, delays and cost for the project team, we want everyone to reach their destination safely.

Find out more

Email us at takakahill@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website nzta.govt.nz/takaka-hill