JONATHAN DOW
Work to protect the banks of three major Hawke's Bay rivers is under way, but recent flooding has shown stopbanks stripped of their willow protection are vulnerable.
In March last year the council chose to protect the stopbanks by installing groynes made of concrete blocks and others made of wire rope and rails.
So far, 20 of the 115 concrete groynes and 20,000m of rope and rail permeable groynes have been built and 30,000 of 330,000 trees have been planted along the banks of the Tutaekuri, Ngaruroro and Tukituki rivers.
"The ultimate aim is to get the trees established, we're still vulnerable for the next three to five years," Graeme Hansen, business unit manager with the regional council, said.
The concrete groynes will provide protection until the trees "take over", Mr Hansen said.
The 2480 concrete units will form 115 groynes along 4km of the Tutaekuri, Ngaruroro and Tukituki rivers.
The concrete will be covered with earth in work programmed to take two years.
Trees lining the rivers were destroyed by the willow sawfly and have now been cleared from 35km of the 106km of river.
Some damage was caused to river banks, especially on the Ngaruroro River at Maraekakaho, during flooding at the end of last month.
Councillor Kevin Rose, chairman of the regional council's asset management and biosecurity committee, said he was pleased that after physical modelling and the final design phase was completed, the actual budget for the work would be $8.9 million, only slightly more than the $8.8 million initially set aside.
A conservative estimate put the cost of damage if the Ngaruroro River broke through the stopbanks at Bridge Pa at $360 million.
Graham Edmundson inspects the concrete blocks which make up part of the 24 groynes. PICTURE: ANDREW LABETT
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