Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s geotechnical advisors and traffic crews report no significant movement at the Cromwell slip site overnight.
State Highway 8 at Deadmans Point, near the SH8B intersection, was reduced to a single lane yesterday after a sizeable piece of rocky hillside began to move early in the morning. It remained open to single lane traffic with floodlights and close monitoring overnight.
“Chopper pilots started sluicing the unstable face around 9.30 am and will continue all day,” says Waka Kotahi Maintenance Contract Manager Mark Stewart.
“This sluicing work will continue for the next few days at least until we are sure the hillside is again stable. The highway is likely to remain at single lane while this work is underway and we thank all road users for building in the extra time and being patient,” he says.
Traffic will be stopped for up to 30 minutes while this work to loosen the schist rock is underway, so people need to plan their trips to include those delays.
State Highway 8 is the main link between Alexandra and Cromwell, through the Cromwell Gorge, with no convenient detour route.
Recent photo of the schist slip site above the highway near Cromwell and aerial image to show width of highway under single lane management:
The slip site on SH8 above the highway yesterday, near the junction with SH8B, below the power pylon, and directly below a farm track:
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