Work to reduce the risk of future slips on State Highway 60 over Tākaka Hill will see two short night-time road closures at Goodall’s Straight in the coming weeks.

From 2 am to 4 am on Tuesday, 17 March, there will be a two-hour road closure to allow a 100-tonne crane to lift drilling machinery into position above the road. About three weeks later, there will be another night-time two-hour road closure when the rig is removed from the site. 

The closures are scheduled for the early hours of the morning when traffic volumes are at their lowest.

Over the weeks the drilling machinery is onsite at the Goodall’s Straight site, crews will install a series of inclined drains up to 70 metres long to remove ground water. When ground water builds up too much, slip planes deep within the hill activate, compromising the stability of the highway, causing slumps and triggering slips.

While the drains are being installed, both lanes will remain open. Please allow extra time and take care when passing through the site.

Goodall’s Straight is about 5.6 km uphill from the intersection of SH60 and Riwaka-Kaiteriteri Road. Last winter, when storms damaged multiple sites on Tākaka Hill, the road suffered both an underslip and an overslip at this very narrow section of highway.

Similar incline drains were installed during last year’s recovery works. Monitoring has shown they significantly reduce ground water build up, including during heavy rainfall events when slip risks increase.