Tararua Alliance roading inspectors clock up the kilometres

Tararua Alliance roading inspectors Steve Hainsworth and Robin Hynes. Photo / Supplied

Tararua has the fourth largest roading network in New Zealand – 1958 kilometres of sealed and unsealed roads, more than 500 bridges and 10,757 culverts - so the role of the council's two roading inspectors is an important cog in the wheel of these assets.

Tararua Alliance southern roading inspector Steve Hainsworth and northern roading inspector Robin Hynes easily clock up 1000km each a week and admit they "see a fair bit of the country".

Hainsworth has been in roading for 27 years, Hynes a roading inspector for three.

"We have a routine and cover the entire district every eight weeks," Hainsworth said.

Along with their regular roading inspection, the pair sometimes tackle 10-metre banks and fight their way through bush and blackberry to inspect the culverts.

The inspectors take photos when a roading asset has a unique characteristic, helping the Tararua Alliance team determine if a culvert is fit for purpose but Hainsworth and Hynes recently encountered something out-of-the ordinary in the lens of their camera.

When checking a culvert in the Alfredton area, Hainsworth had the fright of his life when he snapped a giant weta in the culvert, then looked up to see "the whole ceiling moving".

"There were giant wetas for 10 metres along that culvert ceiling," he said.

"It was really amazing, I've never seen anything like it before."

These giants are all legs and Hynes said the pair have looked at close to 2000 culverts but this was the only one which was home to the leggy, giant wetas.

Both men say they haven't been back to this particular culvert to have another look – yet.

But Hynes has snapped healthy looking koura (native crayfish) along Top Grass Rd.

"You find them everywhere," he said.

Hainsworth said he loves working in the fresh air, with every day different.

"Some days you are looking at snow while eating your lunch. On others you are looking at the ocean or a river," he said.

"It's a pretty cool job. We get to chat with farmers and so we're out there doing a PR job too,"

Hynes agrees. "We're often working on our own to get the job done and we have to plan our days, depending on the weather," he said.

Uncovering native flora and fauna is all part of the job for Hainsworth and Hynes and the network information they gather allows informed decisions about the treatment of our roading network, understanding network demand, including changing demand for analysis and planning purposes.

And while the roading inspectors have uncovered old, historic bottles, there is, sadly a lot of illegally dumped rubbish too.

"You can see the problem we have with plastic, with the pollution in the culverts," Hynes said.