To allow contractors to carry out the work, the track will close at the bottom and the top from Mondays to Fridays.
The closure also affects track users wanting to access Wairere Falls from the North/South Track.
DoC said contractors hoped to have the track open for weekends, but where this wasn’t possible due to safety reasons, an additional alert would be added to the Wairere Falls page on the DOC website.
DoC’s Tauranga Operations manager, Shelly Paul said thework was planned to take up to 18 weeks.
“The bulk of the work is replacing structural assets [including] bridges, boardwalks and stairs, from the base of the track up to and including the lower viewing platform, [because] they have come to the end of their useful life.”
She said no work was being done to the assets at the top of the falls.
“Contractors will be working on one asset at a time, so they will be managing quite an isolated work site to minimise safety risks to the public.”
During the work, the public would still be able to access the carpark and toilets.
“The only time the car park will be closed is when the contractor is flying materials up the track. We will keep the DoC website updated with this info.”
The work was scheduled to be completed by late April or early May, but the work was dependent on several factors, including weather, whichmight impact the completion date.
“However, this time of year is the best weather window for carrying out this work and this is when the contractors were available to do the work.”
Alternative tracks in the area were the Te Tuhi track, Tuahu West track and the Waiorongomai Valley.
The work at the Wairere Falls Track was first identified in 2018 and marked as a priority.
Wairere Falls, at 153m, are the highest in the North Island. Photo / Hamilton and Waikato Tourism
“Although the assets were identified as deteriorating, they were not fundamentally unsafe. But we did know they were coming toward the end of their useful lives,” Paul said.
“Having identified the need to replace the structures etc at Wairere Falls, we also saw an opportunity to bundle up several small projects into one bigger project – to avoid a bit by bit approach.”
She said the works were impacted by several factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and related government restrictions.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
