Work on a 33-metre-long and between and 8- and 14-metre-high retaining wall to repair an underslip on the Forgotten World Highway (State Highway 43), 23km southwest of Taumarunui, will begin this week.
Crews will be on-site working on the retaining wall Monday – Friday until the end of September. During the work there will be Stop/Go with traffic lights in place, with delays expected to be no more than five minutes.
The road has been down to one lane under traffic light control since the slip occurred in 2019.
While the slip initially closed the road completely, crews were able to build a minor realignment to allow one lane of traffic through the site shortly after. This involved digging out a small amount of the hill adjacent to the road and stabilising it with large rocks to road away from the slip edge to provide a enough space for vehicles to safely travel through
Once the new retaining wall is built the road will be reinstated to two lanes.
Due to its topography and heavy rainfall, SH43 is prone to slips. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is focused on improving the reliability of SH43 and Tunnel Hill is one of a number of retaining walls being built and repaired on the highway this winter.
Waka Kotahi asks people to follow the directions of all traffic management in place and thanks everyone in advance for their patience while we undertake this important work.
