| 27 T T Hugh de Lacy Cyclone repairs meeting milestones Last year, the council started the reconstruction of the Puketapu and Matapiro bridges – due to be completed by August this year. Hastings District Council “The scale of the recovery remains substantial, but with each completed project we are reconnecting communities that have had to use extended detours, or cope with navigating complex roadworks sites on a daily basis for two years.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Hastings’ recovery from the February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle disaster could take up to 10 years at a cost of $800 million, with the Hastings District Council (HDC) laser-focused on setting and achieving major milestones every year. Most damage was in the rural areas, where 13 bridges needed a complete re-build and another 161 required repairs, while six major culverts needed re-building and 244 slips had to be cleared. The council initially focused on re-connecting disrupted communities by clearing a multitude of slips, and installing 10 temporary bridges along its 1640km rural roading network. Last year, the council started the reconstruction of the Puketapu and Matapiro bridges – due to be completed by August this year – while upgrading Waimarama Road, rebuilding the Chrystal Culvert, repairing major slips on the Taihape, Dartmoor, Puketitiri and Glengarry roads, and starting repairs, also to be completed this year, on the Waikaou Bridge. “Four leading contracting companies, the council’s regular road-maintenance contractors, and dozens of subcontractors, including hundreds of on-the-ground staff, have been working on the rebuilds and repairs,” Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says. “The scale of the recovery remains substantial, but with each completed project we are reconnecting communities that have had to use extended detours, or cope with navigating complex roadworks sites on a daily basis for two years.” This year’s goals include rebuilding the Kereru Gorge to carry traffic by Easter, and the completion in the second half of the year of repairs to the Puketapu and Matapiro bridges, with a start made on the Rissington and Dartmoor bridge rebuilds. Slip repairs will continue on Dartmoor, Glengarry, Taihape and Puketitiri roads, and will start on the Ellis Wallace, Ohurakura and Te Waka Roads slips. The Waikoau Gorge bridge investigation report is due early this year, and a start will be made on the McVicar and Mangawhata culvert repairs. The recovery work recorded a significant milestone last November with the installation of a massive 15m by 12m culvert in the Kereru Gorge, a significant improvement on the previous 1.5m-diameter pipe culvert. Here, contractor Fulton Hogan has been working 12-hour day-and-night shifts since late August, but the initial Christmas target for the completion of the project had to be put back to Easter this year, due to the need for additional steel reinforcements. The most affected communities have celebrated progress, with the Puketapu Bridge attracting 300 residents to an open day in November. Puketapu School ran a competition to name Fulton Hogan’s 150-tonne crane, and came up with Mr Mustard. Downer NZ is rebuilding 11 slip sites along Puketitiri Road, with three sites completed, and an additional four sites since awarded to the same contractor. Tupore Infrastructure completed one slip project on Glengarry Rd, made considerable progress on others – three sites are nearing completion – and is on track to complete them all by June. The biggest slip, on Dartmoor Rd, a major undertaking requiring the re-routing of the river, is being repaired by Downer NZ under urgency, and should be finished in April.
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