Repairs to car park begin, again
Clean up of harbour facilities have begun at Port Taranaki after the lee breakwater was pounded by heavy seas for the second time in a month.
The gate to the lee Breakwater and carpark was closed on Thursday as it was battered by 4.5 metre swells coinciding with a king tide about midday.
The area remained closed on Friday so emergency repair work could be carried out after it was damaged by storm surges.
It is the second time the area has been hammered by wild weather in a month, with the breakwater, car park and boat ramp all being damaged in early January.
Whitaker Civil Engineering supervisor John McLeod had a crew on site early Friday morning focused on cleaning up around the boat ramp.
‘‘Our priority is to just get that open,’’ he said.
McLeod said his team dashed to the port on Thursday to remove barriers and machinery from the area.
‘‘We came down yesterday to get everything out of the water,’’ he said.
‘‘She was a bit of a mess.’’ Contractors had been making steady progress on the repairs, with resurfacing of the car park and strengthening rock walls nearby on track for completion by mid-February.
McLeod said the rock wall had held up this time around.
However, the latest damage was about ‘‘the same’’ as suffered in January’s storm surge, he said.
Again, they would need to relevel and re-concrete the damaged surface of the carpark.
McLeod wasn’t too fazed by the setback.
‘‘That’s just mother nature - we can’t do much about it.’’
When asked how long he anticipated the repairs would take, McLeod answered by saying: ‘‘how long is a piece of string’’.
Port Taranaki infrastructure and projects programme manager Mark Webb said repairs made to the area after the last storm had stood up relatively well during Thursday’s smashing.
Extra drainage was put in the area which appeared to have worked well during the large swells, he said.
‘‘While there is some damage to the areas of the car park that were yet to be sealed, we will be working hard to get the car park and boat ramp useable for the weekend.’’
Despite the car park being closed, the Bach on Breakwater Cafe and Restaurant remained open for business on Friday.
The eatery did not suffer any damage from the storm, nor did other businesses in the area.
The storm also saw Fire and Emergency New Zealand evacuate of dozens of residents living near the mouth of the Waitara River.
Those evacuated were asked to temporarily move to the Waitara Public Library if they did not have family or friends to stay with.
Other damage from the wild waves across Taranaki’s coastline was still being assessed.
New Plymouth District Council took to social media on Friday to warn people some coastal areas could be fenced off.
Teams were out in ‘‘full clean up mode’’, which included repair of the seawall near the Waving Wands at East End Beach, the post said.
The Seaside Market, scheduled to be held at Nga¯ motu Beach on Sunday, has been postponed.
Organisers said it was ‘‘unsafe’’ to continue with this weekend’s market following the wild weather.
Metservice has forecast fine spells, with a chance of morning showers on Saturday and fine but cloudy periods developing in the evening on Sunday.