In order to stabilise a rock face north of Kaikōura at Ōhau Point, the NZ Transport Agency has scheduled a three day, daytime closure from Monday, 6 August to Wednesday, 8 August.
State Highway 1 between Clarence and Mangamaunu will be closed each day from 8am to 4pm.
During this time any people travelling between Picton and Christchurch will need to take the Lewis Pass/ Murchison route.
The daytime closures are essential to carry out work that can’t be completed safely with vehicles on the highway beneath the rock face, says Tresca Forrester, Network Operations Manager for the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) alliance.
“The work involves drilling rock anchors into a 1000 tonne rock (400 cubic metres) above the road to stabilise it, followed by grouting,” she says.
Ōhau Point rock face with the highway directly below. The lighter-coloured area of rock face on the point will soon be getting rock anchors to make it more stable:
“A closure is necessary as it’s dangerous work happening right above the road so strict safety precautions must be put in place. The highway will be open outside these hours – 4 pm to 8 am each evening and overnight - unless there are further weather events or other reasons for overnight closures, which we will keep road users informed on.”
State Highway 1 south of Kaikōura and the Inland Road via Waiau and Mt Lyford (Route 70) will remain open.
“If bad weather is predicted before the planned closure, this work will be postponed to the following week. We will not have SH1 and the Lewis Pass closed at the same time,” Ms Forrester says.
“We understand that these day closures will have an impact on the community, the freight industry and all road users. We are all committed to getting this highway safely rebuilt and making the coastline as safe and resilient as possible.”
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