Crews are working towards reopening State Highway 6 between Haast and Lake Moeraki on the West Coast — even as more rough weather closes in for the region.
Heavy rain, flooding, and slips hit Westland over the weekend, with a local state of emergency declared for part of the region, and the road network impacted.
State Highway 6 between Haast and Lake Moeraki in South Westland remained fully closed asnd there were “a significant number” of slips around Knights Point and Moeraki.
Rockfall and road movement occurred, the New Zealand Transport Agency said. Workers were removing loose rocks from the slope face above the road.
“The initial inspection on Sunday identified concerns with unstable material above the road, the source of the rockfall material,” NZTA’s Mark Pinner said.
“This rock needs to be removed or stabilised to provide a safe worksite and road access.”
He added that “there’s significantly more scaling work that needs to be tackled before teams can come in to begin clearing rockfall from the rockfall catchpit”.
“A scaling crew, with a helipad established, is now working on removing loose and unstable rocks,” Pinner said.
NZTA released before and after photographs of workers using airbags to remove “unstable features” from the cliff face.
“Any large rocks threatening to drop or roll onto the highway need to be prised loose or popped out using air bags or explosives.
“There is still a lot of work to do to make this bluff safe before the road reopens,” Pinner said.
More rough weather on the way
Heavy rain is forecast for the area tomorrow and on Friday, with the ground still saturated from the weekend’s rainfall.
Crews are working to make the slope safe before they can remove any of the material spilled onto the road – but it won’t be safe to carry on during the rain, Pinner said.
“As soon as the site is safe after the weather clears, work will be underway again to make the slope safe.
“Once the bluffs are made safe enough for crews to work under them, we’ll be able to provide a better indication of when the road may re-open.
“We do understand how important this route is for West Coasters and that it is a key route into and out of Otago for visitors but we also need to protect people from the possibility of another rockfall,” Pinner said.
The major West Coast highway will remain partly closed until the end of this week at least.
