The long slog to get State Highway 2 at Otoko back to its best has been completed, with 11 work sites like this now finished. Photo / Supplied
The long slog to get State Highway 2 at Otoko back to its best has been completed, with 11 work sites like this now finished. Photo / Supplied
Extensive repair work to State Highway 2 at Otoko Hill caused by Cyclone Gabrielle has been completed.
Almost 3km of new underground drains have reshaped the way water moves through one of Tairāwhiti’s most landslide-prone road corridors.
“Landslides have long been a challenge on State Highway 2 through Otoko Hilldue to the nature of the terrain,” an NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi spokesman said.
“But Cyclone Gabrielle intensified the problem, triggering multiple slips that disrupted travel.”
Transport Rebuild East Coast (Trec) alliance, on behalf of NZTA, has worked at 11 sites at Otoko Hill since June 2024,.
One of the 11 work sites that have kept the NZTA and Trec busy since the cyclone. Photo / Supplied
“The last site has now [been] finished, with final road marking and checks complete,” the spokesman said.
The final site includes 976m of drainage: 691m of bored horizontal drains (long drainage pipes) drilled up to 60m deep into the hillside, and 285m of counterfort drains (deep trenches).
Trec project manager Richard Bayley said the Otoko Hill recovery work would help stabilise slopes around the highway.
“The underground drains intercept groundwater at multiple depths and ease pressure inside the hillside around the highway, helping to reduce future movement.
“Drivers may not notice the changes as they pass,” Bayley said. “But the work through Otoko Hill means fewer landslides and a more resilient highway that will help keep communities, whānau, freight and emergency services connected in future weather events.”
He said local contractors and hapū kaitiaki had played key roles in restoring the route after Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Otoko Hill’s recovery was a team effort – from the contractors who delivered the mahi on the ground to the hapū kaitiaki and cultural monitors who guided the Trec team with care for the whenua.
“Their combined expertise helped stabilise this challenging corridor.”
