Despite rain during the long weekend, contractors working at the Devil's Elbow slip on SH2, near Tutira, were not hindered. Instead, they made good progress and yesterday opened the road up to two lanes.
New Zealand Transport Agency's Gordon Hart said contractors managed to keep the highway open, even during rainfalls, as well as making progress clearing the site, which had been hammered by slips in the past week.
Mr Hart said the main challenge now was dealing with a giant boulder which had dislodged and fallen.
"It is too big to move with conventional equipment. We could only manage to nudge it aside over the weekend to keep the single lane operating."
Mr Hart said the next stage would be "benching" the slip face to make it secure, but contractors needed a few days of dry weather.
"It will proceed when water flowing out of the slip face slows down a bit more."
