‘Great progress’ at SH35 road collapse
“Great progress” is being made at the site of the State Highway 35 collapse in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, as more heavy rain bears down on the region.
The stretch of highway between Opo¯ ¯ tiki and Te Kaha collapsed into the Motu River on Wednesday evening, forcing the closure of the road between the Bay of Plenty and East Coast.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional manager of maintenance and operations Rob Campbell said the team was making “great progress” at the site yesterday.
The road was opened to light traffic via a temporary single-lane track on Saturday evening but had been closed yesterday so “stabilisation works” could continue.
Campbell said large rocks were being positioned at the base of the bank for the river flow protection.
This would offer the road more protection from the river rise that would occur with the rain forecast, he said.
The temporary pavement was “holding together well” and the track was to be open to light traffic again from 5pm until 8pm last night ahead of the heavy rain forecast.”
A heavy rain watch is in place for
Bay of Plenty east of Kawerau until noon today. Larger accumulations of rain were expected to fall inland.
“Waka Kotahi will reassess this morning and only reopen the temporary track if it’s safe to do so.”
Campbell said SH35 had been closed near Motu River bridge since Wednesday night following severe cracking and a section of the eastbound lane falling into the river.
It was not possible to give a timeframe for when the road would be back to functionality.
“We are still very much in emergency response mode. Safety is paramount.”