Expressway ruts under repair
Rutting repair work is under way on the Waikato Expressway north of Hamilton.
Deep grooves or potholes have occurred at points at Te Rapa and Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia after the roads opened in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Until November, three interim rutting repairs on the Te Rapa section had cost the Transport Agency $755,000 and at that time no final fix had been found.
For the same period, the Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia section had been repaired nine times with that cost covered by the contractor. NZTA has already begun some early work, however, the main repairs begin at Te Rapa this weekend, which will be carried out by Fulton Hogan.
The work is to ensure the condition of the Waikato Expressway remains safe and up to required standards going into winter, portfolio manager Darryl Coalter said.
‘‘This work is also part of a staged approach aimed at finding a solution to the rutting issues we have seen on the Te Rapa and Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia sections of the expressway.’’
He said the first stage will involve applying additional waterproofing to the surface which will help provide better reliability on the road surface over the winter months. The second stage to be delivered next construction season is about providing a long-term solution for the road surface.
‘‘While we are doing this work we will also be continuing our ongoing investigations and confirming the exact cause of the rutting issues on these sections.
‘‘Once this is complete we will look to start the second stage which will involve more invasive work at specific locations to strengthen the surface for the future.’’
He said that it is NZTA’s top priority to keep the state highway safe for road users and they are committed to fixing the road with a long-term solution as soon as they can.
NZTA is in discussions with Fletcher Construction to undertake similar resurfacing and weather-proofing works on the Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia section starting around the end of March. While the work is underway traffic will be managed at different times with speed restrictions, lane closures, stop-go controls and some detours where necessary during the works period, which is expected to go through until winter. The first full closure north- and south-bound is this Sunday, March 3, from 7pm to 6am. Traffic will be detoured on the old SH1 route past the dairy factory and The Base. It will be clearly signposted and will add only a few minutes extra to travel time.
The work is weatherdependent and may be rescheduled if required.