Minor Repairs

22 November 2023

Despite recent spring rain, contractors have been able to continue making minor repairs to the district’s cyclone-impacted roads, carrying out culvert scour repairs on Ugly Hill Road; clearing swale drains of slip material on Waiou Road and reforming it; and repairing a hole on the road shoulder White Road.  

In addition to this minor repair work, the response and recovery team has identified approx. 80 sites requiring protection works, which include improving drainage around landslide sites; installing bunds around the top of landslips to minimise water getting into the existing drop-out; and installing semi-permanent traffic management to reduce maintenance costs and maintain access to sites which do move.

15 November 2022

Council’s post-cyclone Response and Recovery programme has addressed a couple of significant slips and drop-outs this past week.

Higgins has removed a fallen tree and slipped material from Northblock but limited access remains in place on the temporary, weight-restricted bridge.

A drop-out on the edge of Argyll Road’s existing carriageway has been benched then filled and wrapped with geotextile cloth to prevent further erosion, removing all restrictions on this section of road.

Contractors have also completed culvert armouring on Rangitoto Road, clearing the blocked storm water channels resulting from slips along the road and minimising further degradations. Traffic measures are in place to alert road users to remaining slip hazards that require more substantial repairs and to exercise caution.

Of the 2,500 repairs identified post-cyclone, only 44 sites still require remediation.

1 November 2023

Our contractors continue to carry out minor repairs to the district’s cyclone-impacted roads, most recently upgrading and replacing culverts, carrying out scour repairs and clearing slips.

On Hiranui Road, a crew has repaired a culvert pipe that had separated at the joins, collapsing the carriageway into the pipe. The old culvert was removed and replaced with a larger one to manage increased capacity, with a concrete sandbag head wall and scour protection installed. Stop/go traffic management remains in place elsewhere along the road as the contractor continues to work on other minor sites.

A culvert on Speedy Road that was overwhelmed during Cyclone Gabrielle, causing water to spill over the road and scour the outlet, has been repaired and this section of the road is now operational. Work to prevent further scouring and remove the risk of future surface flooding has included filling the hole and constructing a new nib kerb to improve outlet.

A slip on Paulsen Road has been remedied after a fallen tree encroached the roading corridor and posed a risk to motorists. Both the road and the roadside channel have been cleared and this section of the road is now operational, while repairs continue elsewhere along the road.

Eight months on from the devastating effects of Cyclone Gabrielle, Council and contractors have been working hard to efficiently and safely repair the district’s roading network in line with budget, quality parameters and community benefit. Of the approximately 2,500 minor repair sites identified across the district following the cyclone, only 100 odd remain to be addressed as part of the Waka Kotahi-funded planned response work.

Examples of recent work carried out include clearing debris from culverts and swale drainage clearing on Range Road; 

and addressing shoulder degradation due to scour occurring behind road curbs on Paget Road, enhancing flow capacity with functioning culverts and implementing a controlled water discharge point to prevent further bank erosion.

The scale and severity of minor repair sites vary, with work taking anywhere between several hours to five days to complete. The bulk of those sites yet to be addressed are the more complex minor repairs; however, all minor repairs are expected to be completed by December 2023.

A significant amount of rock armouring has also taken place to reinforce compromised bridges across the district. Post-Cyclone Gabrielle, 34 at-risk bridges were identified in CHB and successful rock armouring work has been completed on 3 of them, leaving 31 to be repaired between now and June 2024. Rock armouring minimises the risk of further scouring and erosion around bridge abutments and piles, increasing the strength and resilience of these essential connections for future weather events and helping ensure our communities remain connected.