TREC Tairāwhiti recovery update

Issue 36

18 December 2025

Tēnā koe

To close out 2025 we have packed this newsletter with good news and progress updates. From completed projects to the latest milestones and a look ahead to 2026 - there’s plenty to celebrate as we wrap up the year.

TREC will pause construction from 18 December to 5 January. Apart from Kemps Hill, one section of Mangahauini Gorge, and Tōrere (in the Bay of Plenty), all other sites will be open to 2 lanes. Work resumes from 5 January for our final year of recovery delivery.

During this time, if you spot an issue on the state highway network you can call the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49).

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

From all of us here at TREC we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season. Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia!

Busy year as Tairāwhiti cyclone recovery on our state highways moves closer to completion

Around 90% of Cyclone Gabrielle recovery work on Tairāwhiti’s state highways is now complete after a busy year for our TREC crews. Alongside local contractors we have now delivered 166 of 180 projects (number of faults fixed) across State Highway 2 (SH2) and State Highway 35 (SH35), restoring 2 lane access and strengthening damaged sites.

Major works such as Mangahauini Gorge, Hikuwai Bridge and key flood protection upgrades at Hakanui Straight (SH2) and Rototahe (SH35) are now well underway.

For more on our progress this year, read our 2025 wrap-up media release.

Digging deep as bridge foundations take shape at Hikuwai

Piling is officially underway for the new Hikuwai Bridge on SH35 north of Gisborne – a huge step forward in our recovery work.

Our crews are drilling deep and installing 16 massive pile casings - each up to 12m long, 1.8m wide, and weighing over 13,000kg. These casings will be welded together to protect and align the bridge’s 8 columns, with some piles reaching 50-60m below ground – the deepest on the coast.

The first casings are already in place (top left photo). Next, reinforcement cages are lowered in (bottom left), before concrete is poured using a tremie pipe (right).

The new 2 lane bridge will stretch 100m across the Hikuwai River, built on these deep foundations to withstand flooding, earthquakes, and debris. It’s all about delivering a safer, stronger, more resilient connection for the East Coast.

Find out more about the piling.

Action stations with piling underway at Hikuwai.

SH2 Otoko Hill recovery work all done

Repairs at 11 sites across SH2 Otoko Hill are now complete. Crews repaired multiple landslides, reinforced slopes with soil anchors and shotcrete, and rebuilt damaged roadside barriers.

Drainage was upgraded with nearly 3km of deep underground drains, some reaching 60m into the hillside, installed to intercept groundwater and reduce landslide risk.

Drivers may not notice the changes as they pass, (many of them are out of sight), but the work through Otoko Hill means means a more resilient highway that will help keep communities, whānau, freight, and emergency services connected.

While the main recovery work is now complete, road users can expect a few weeks of pavement works on Otoko Hill in early 2026, along with a drainage project located to the north of Otoko Hill.

More information.

Meet Angus Chapman and Frances Neeson, 2 of TREC’s engineering geologists and vital members of the recovery team. They investigate the geology beneath our highways, assess landslide risks, and guide stabilisation work to keep roads, bridges, and slopes safe.

Culverts and clever cloth at Rototahe

We’re pleased to share that 6 new culverts have been installed and 2 existing culverts upgraded - all are now in use.

Crews are currently lifting the road by almost 1m to improve flood resilience in the area.

The white cloth in the photo is geo-fabric, a simple layer that makes a big difference.

In silty, unstable ground (like where we’re working), soils can act as a sponge, soaking up water and shifting easily.

Geo-fabric stops that by separating the soil from the new road layers, locking everything in place and giving the highway a strong, stable foundation.

Our crews will open this section of highway to 2 lanes over the Christmas period from 18 December to 5 January, however when work resumes and traffic management is back in place, the road will return to a one-way stop/go during daytime hours, and open to 2 lanes overnight until work is completed.

Culvert installation beneath the highway is now complete.

Three projects now complete at Kopuaroa Hill

TREC crews have successfully completed a challenging recovery project in the Kopuaroa area at the site of a major underslip.

Crews stabilised the hillside using soil anchors (devices used to hold, restrain and support structures) and a shotcrete (sprayed-on concrete) wall, successfully restoring the road and strengthening this section of SH35 (pictured).

Work was also completed last year at the Kopuaroa Stream Bridge and included scour (erosion) protection work, safeguarding the bridge and state highway from impacts of the river and to protect the road from future weather events.

Completed mid-way through this year, at our Kopuaroa 2 site, crews constructed a 250m long buttress as part of slip repairs, allowing the road to be fully reopened to 2 lanes.

We will be returning to the area in early 2026 to complete some pavement and drainage works.

With these projects complete, Kopuaroa is now safer and journeys are more reliable for local communities.

Kopuaroa 1 underslip work is now complete. The image below shows abseilers making the final touches to the soil anchors.

Progress at Mangahauini Gorge

There’s plenty of construction work underway at Mangahauini Gorge too. The team is making great progress.

In this photo, you can see the tall steel H-piles the team has installed to form a strong retaining wall. Driven deep into the ground, they create a solid frame that will later be filled in to hold back the hillside.

Crews are also working on the new roughened channel and placing hanbars in the river. Around a quarter of the 1,300 hanbars are already in place.

In the new year we will share timelapse footage and a drone flythrough of the site - keep an eye out for it.

Find out more, visit SH35 Mangahauini Gorge | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

H-piles will help to form a retaining wall in the Mangahauini Gorge.

SH2 Hakanui Flood Resilience project update

Last week, our SH2 project manager Fred Witton joined representatives from Te Aitanga a Māhaki and Gisborne District Council at a community hui in Te Karaka. It was a great chance to share progress and hear directly from locals.

The Hakanui crew are well ahead of schedule. Right now, crews are focused on bulk fill: placing and compacting large volumes of material to raise the road to its final level. They’re about 70% of the way through this work. Around 18 truckloads arrive on site each day, keeping things humming.

They’re also installing the last culverts to manage water flow under the road - there’s just 2 more to go before that job’s complete.

Looking ahead, expect another traffic switch in early 2026 as work moves to the next section. We’ll share details closer to the time.

The SH2 Hakanui Straight is tracking ahead of programme.

Kura engagement a highlight of the Hikuwai project

Our Hikuwai Bridge team (north of Tolaga Bay) is engaging with local kura (schools) as part of the project - and it’s become a real highlight of our mahi.

Project artwork, inspiring pathways into engineering, and construction and site visits are all part of our engagement programme with Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mangatuna, Tolaga Bay Area School and Te Kura o Mata.

Tamariki and kaiako (students and teachers) from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mangatuna were on-site recently to see the first of the bridge piling underway (pictured above). The team also took the opportunity to thank them for some fantastic artwork they had recently created for the site office.

Engaging with these kura not only reminds us of the future generations this bridge will serve but is part of creating relationships that support resilience well beyond the project itself.

For more information about the project: SH35 Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

A whole lot of fun on-site with Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mangatuna.

Priority give-way at Tōrere slip repair site over summer

Since starting work in April, the crew has tackled not just the 2 original slips but also 2 more that popped up along the way. With those emergency works wrapped up in late October, the focus has been back on the original work. Completion is now expected March 2026 (weather permitting).

Over Christmas, the priority give way will stay in place, so please drive with care and expect short delays if you’re travelling through.  A temporary road seal is being laid to help traffic flow safely over summer. 

Recent compacting work is now complete at the overslip site. The team are building the first layer of the top MSE wall.

No swimming around the SH35 Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge work site

Summer’s here but please remember there’s no swimming in the Waiapu River near our SH35 Rotokautuku Bridge worksite for safety reasons. 

There may be underwater hazards that can’t be seen from the surface.

Signs are up to remind everyone to keep clear of this stretch until the project is finished next year.

Other parts of the Waiapu are fine for swimming and fishing, so you can still enjoy the awa (river) safely.

The team has made good progress with enabling (early) and environmental works and will be back on-site in early January.

Construction underway at the Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge means no swimming in the immediate area this summer.

SH2 overnight full road closures (Devil's Elbow, Hawke’s Bay)

From Sunday 18 January to Thursday 5 February full overnight road closures will be in place on SH2 in Hawke's Bay between Waikoau Hill, south of Tūtira, and Aropaoanui Road for 3 weeks. These will be from 9pm to 5am, Sunday to Thursday (5 nights each week).

A 4.5km section of Devil’s Elbow is being asphalted to create a smoother drive over the numerous underslip repairs at Devil’s Elbow on SH2.

If you’re travelling between Gisborne and Napier please allow enough time to make it through a closure point before 9pm during those 3 weeks.

More information.

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:

• Bund – embankment that creates a barrier
• Buttress – supporting structure
• Counterfort drain – drain that improves slope stability by controlling groundwater
• Gabion wall - baskets filled with rocks
• Hanbar – specially designed interlocking concrete blocks
• MSE (Mechanically Stabilised Earth) – a retaining wall construction technique used to stabilise slopes
• Reno mattress – shallow basket filled with rocks
• 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
• Swale - a shallow, planted channel that slows and filters stormwater
• Willow wall – using willows as ‘living walls’ to stabilise slips

SH2 underway

• Hakanui Straight (formerly called Nesbitt’s Dip) project – flood improvements.

SH35 underway

• Hikuwai Bridge No.1 replacement.
• Mangahauini Gabion Wall – Stage 2 – soil nails, buttress and rip rap at the bottom of the existing gabion wall. 
• Mangahauini Gorge – river works, drainage and culvert upgrades, highway repair and rebuild.
• Kopuaroa Slip 1 – reinstate SH35 to 2 lanes by installing a soil anchor and shotcrete wall.
• Tōrere – underslip and overslip repairs.
• Rototahe – flood resilience.
• Rotokautuku (Waiapu) Bridge revetment – scour protection.

SH35 coming soon

• Maraehara – underslip repairs.
• Uawa River Scour – 2 underslips to be repaired to reinstate state highway to 2 lanes.
• Kopuaroa pavement works
   

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
• This TREC Tairāwhiti regional update

Local road network

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

Up-to-date information on local road closures.