$2m post-quake headache for council

Road subsidence on the Pahiatua to Pongaroa road at Makuri, following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake on January 20. Photo/Warren Buckland

Work to restore earthquake-damaged roads in the Tararua district could cost up to $2 million, says the council's chief executive.

"These won't be cheap fixes," said Tararua District Council chief executive Blair King.

With substantial damage to the road through Makuri to Pongaroa and Route 52, following the 6.2 magnitude Eketahuna earthquake, Mr King says there is severe slumping, giant boulders hanging precariously over roads and slips to deal with.

"The heavy rain we have had over the weekend isn't going to help either," he said.

Council's manager of engineering services Ray Cannon has organised a team of abseilers to assess massive limestone rocks sitting high above the road in the Makuri Gorge.

"They will abseil down from the top to see how we can deal with them," Mr King said.

The rocks, up to a metre across and weighing half a tonne, are 30m up a slope and Mr King warns that they will have a "fair bit of momentum" when they come down.

"They could crush a car into bits and will damage the surface of the road when we bring them down," he said.

The road will be closed while work is carried out but Mr King said, other than that, it is currently open to traffic.

The council would be hoping for a subsidy from the New Zealand Transport Agency to cover the cost of some of the work, Tararua District Mayor Roly Ellis said.

"Even if we get the subsidy we're still looking at big money to fix the damage," he said.

"We should be eligible for an 80 per cent subsidy from NZTA, but I know they're short of money and we're not sure how they will react to our request.

"However, as a council we do put money into our budget for emergency work.

"But it's all going to cost."

Mr King said the council received a subsidy when there had been a storm event such as heavy rain which caused the ground over or under a road to drop.

"That sort of thing can be fixed by simple retaining walls, but these cracks and slumps are much harder to fix," he said.

"It's a bit like a house, if you wallpaper over cracks in the walls they just show up again.

"It would be the same if we simply tarsealed over the cracks in our damaged roads.

"The bit of road about 150mm below the seal is like gib board in your house and under that is a surface similar to a timber wall," he said.

"Everything underneath has to be dealt with first, before you can seal over the top again."

Also an issue for the council was how to work with farmers near the epicentre of the earthquake, dealing with damaged access roads and bridges, Mr King said.

"We understand the plight of farmers, such as Andrew Poulton at Makuri," he said.

"Having access roads damaged restricting their lives and business is not what they need just as they start to come back from the tough times.

"Our council will look at ways of perhaps sweeping some of those repairs into ours."

Cracks across Route 52 were also a challenge for council staff, Mr King said.

"The damage will be highlighted by stock trucks rumbling over the roads," he said.