DOC welcomes Totaranui roadworks
Reconstruction work has begun on the road to Totaranui, approx 3km from the end of the bitumen at Wainui Bay and 1km from Pigeon Saddle. Photo: Richard Walker.
Work has begun on the restoration of the road to Totaranui.
The New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) announced last week that the road would be restored, prompting very positive responses in many quarters.
Hugh Mytton, the Department of Conservation’s camp manager at Totaranui, described the NZTA’s decision as “brilliant”.
“I walked the road with Selwyn Steedman the engineer, so I know how bad the damage is. We’re all really pleased with the decision. We are hoping to install three brand new superior toilet blocks in the camp this year. We hope the road’s done in time for us to get the contractors in to do it in time for this coming summer.”
Golden Bay Area manager for DOC, John Mason, is pleased too.
“The camp is important for lots of reasons - it makes a significant contribution to our budget for one thing. We were predicting income of $546,000 this year from the camp. The bulk of that is generated between Christmas Eve and the last long weekend of summer - either Waitangi weekend or Nelson Anniversary weekend, depending. We’re probably going to miss that target by about $420,000. That’s $420,000 worth of conservation work that will not happen this year.
We spent between $700,000 and $800,000 on the new sewage scheme, so it’s a shame to miss out on most of a season’s income.”
Mr Mason explained that the process of restoring the road would be challenging because of the extent of the damage and the remote location.
“A significant portion of the cost is the result of having to truck out so much spoil. We’ve identified several places where it’s OK for spoil to be stored. There is a place at Totaranui itself and a flat area on the road to Awaroa.”
Selwyn Steedman is a Tasman District Council transportation network engineer who is currently working on EQC’s Takaka recovery. He was part of the team of experts who walked the road and contributed hard information to NZTA to assist their decision to restore the road.
He confirmed that preparatory work had begun and explained how it would proceed.
“The road is now a construction zone. That’s why we have erected some gates at this end to keep out all unauthorised traffic. We will push an exploratory track through to Totaranui to get some gear in there and clean the water tables and culverts to prevent any further damage in wet weather. Then, when we get the resource consent we can get started on the work to restore the road in earnest from both ends.”
Mr Steedman explained that the first 3-5 kilometres of the road (after Wainui) had been the most badly damaged.
“We lost the road completely in three places there. When we walked through we just sat down at each slip and made a plan for fixing it and made an estimate of the time it would take. Now we have an individual plan for each of the 79 slips.”
The budget ofr the work was about $1.5million, Mr Steedman said and, though it was difficult to be precise, he felt the road should be operational within 8-12 weeks of obtaining the consent.
“We certainly hope to have the heavy work finished before the wet weather sets in.”
Mr Steedman stressed that having the road open would not equate to open slather for all vehicles.
“Having it operational is not the same as having it open. It’s very important to keep limited access until we’re sure that the works have settled correctly.”
“Tasman District Council acknowledges the pivotal role of the NZ Transport Agency in this decision,” said Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne. “While the road is a council responsibility, it is fully funded by the agency as a special-purpose road.
Neil Wilson
