A rockfall about 4 km south of The Neck, State Highway 6, next to Lake Hawea, Queenstown Lakes District, closed a lane over Labour Weekend.
“The NZ Transport Agency’s road maintenance team will keep a single lane in place as a precaution, as there is more wet weather forecast in the next few days,” says Transport Agency Senior Network Manager John Jarvis.
“More rocks could fall onto the road in the northbound lane. The team will continue to monitor the situation and following a geotechnical assessment a digger may be necessary to remove any remaining loose, overhanging material.
“There is signage in place and the single lane is not expected to delay motorists any more than a few minutes at this stage.”
Road crews cleared the slip from the highway early Saturday morning but more rock fell later in the day.
The site is about 4km south of The Neck on SH6 adjacent to Lake Hawea. It is more than 13 km south of the Bean Bluff rockfall site from 31 July this year.(external link) Work is programmed to start on remedial work at Bean Bluff rockfall site early November, so the same machinery may also work at the Lake Hawea rockfall site as well, says Mr Jarvis.