Mōkau to Piopio

Work continues today and over the weekend at the site of the Awakino Gorge slip on State Highway 3, as crews work to safely reopen the road as quickly as possible.

Since the slip last weekend, crews have been working to safely clear material from the road - the significant slip has seen roughly 12-16 thousand cubic metres of material come down the hill – the equivalent of almost 1,400 standard rubbish trucks.

The focus over the next few days will be excavating what’s called a ‘bench’ on the hillside to ensure any further slip material is caught by the bench. In addition, further geotechnical assessments are planned to inform what further earthwork is needed up the slope of the bench.

The hillside must be ‘benched’ before the remaining slip material can be cleared from the road – otherwise there’s a risk the hillside may continue to slide onto the road.

One 50‑tonne excavator, two 20‑tonne diggers and about 10 trucks will operate simultaneously to clear the slip material.

There’s also work underway to clear the other minor slips north and south of the significant slip and to clear and repair blocked culverts. As at midday today we have cleared 31 of 39 minor slips from the road surface, we are working on 3 of the 6 under slips and we have cleared 10 of 32 culverts.

Work remains on track to reopen this stretch of road late next week, as long as the forecast weather holds.

Elsewhere on the state highway network around the region, crews will down tools for the long weekend to facilitate more efficient travel.

Where ever you’re headed, please drive to the conditions, take your time and get to your destination safely.