On Thursday night this week, 4 May, the prefabricated accommodation facility to house workers restoring the State Highway 1 transport corridor will start making its way to Kaikoura by truck.
The trucks, which are carrying loads that are wider than usual, will be travelling at night and into the early morning to minimise disruption to most road users, residents and businesses along the route. Each convoy of trucks will have two pilot vehicles so any one coming towards them will have ample warning of the wider loads ahead.
Two vehicles will travel together and the convoys will be staggered throughout the night to minimise disruption on the network.
The vehicles will be travelling from the storage yard at Woolston via State Highway 1 to Waipara, State Highway 7 to Culverden and then the Inland Road via Waiau (Route 70) to Kaikoura.
There are 96 over-dimension truckloads to be delivered (of 104 trucks in total), around 8 - 10 loads delivered per day over a twelve-day period. There will be no weekend deliveries during this time. All over-dimensional loads will be restricted to the hours of 8.00pm – 7.00am.
Oversized loads will be piloted and escorted by traffic control units, with particular care and traffic management at pinch points on the inland road from Waiau to Kaikoura.
Travellers on this route should be aware of the additional freight loads and the potential for delays, says Transport Agency Earthquake Recovery Manager Steve Mutton.
The North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) Accommodation Village will play a critical role in the work to reopen the road and rail corridor in a timely manner with a crew of 300 or more people housed close to their work sites.
“The workers’ village is a key part of the programme to restore this important coastal highway by the end of 2017,” says Steve Mutton. “It is quite a logistical exercise to get these truck-loads of material to Kaikoura, along the winding inland road, then set up on site.
“Thanks to all road users, residents and people who use these highways and the inland Waiau road for taking care and being patient if they strike short delays at night over the coming 12 days.”
