The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) says $1.3M of rock stabilising work it started in March to improve road user safety at the Nevis Bluff State highway 6 about midway between Cromwell and Queenstown, is now well past the half way mark.
NZTA Central Otago Area Manager John Jarvis says two areas of unstable rock, one about 160M above the road, were identified late last year as posing a potential hazard to road users and this work is to stabilise these areas before they became a greater risk. Good progress on this has been made using a combination of drilling and blasting.
“Blasting work is now finished and we are into the rock bolting stage which will continue through until the job is finished at the end of May. Up until recently, road users had faced delays of up to an hour at times while blasting was carried out.”
Rock bolting can be undertaken without any significant hold ups for road users, which is great news with the school holidays starting next week.
Mr Jarvis says work is going well on erecting a 40 metre temporary rock catch fence about 50 metres above the road and directly below the site where our contractors are working. When it’s finished in the next few days it will give a level of road user protection that means we can safely manage the road with shorter and less frequent delays.
Toward the end of May, we will use a helicopter to remove any loose debris from the whole bluff and at the same time give it a general tidy up before winter Mr Jarvis said.
The latest information about traffic delays at this site are available at www.highwayinfo.govt,nz(external link) or by phoning 0800 444449.
