Six million work hours on Kaikōura coast as rebuild nears completion

Tuesday, 16 June 2020

Repairs are underway on a 15-metre section of sea wall at the Punchbowl that was damaged during the 2016 earthquake.

Locals and travellers can look forward to easy drives along the Kaikōura coast this summer as a date has been set for the end of the earthquake rebuild works.

The work on transport networks around Kaikōura following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake is due to be completed on December 15.

That would be exactly three years after State Highway 1 reopened, and about four years since the earthquake struck in November 2016.

Sealing work is set to get underway on the Ōkiwi Bay road realignment, just north of Black Miller Stream.

There are still more than 50 milestones to meet this year which includes completing the cultural artwork package at seven safe stopping areas, safety improvements, rail tunnels, bridge strengthening and landscaping.

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A permanent rockfall protection canopy will be constructed south of Kaikōura and road stabilisation works will be undertaken near Kaikōura racecourse.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and KiwiRail established the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) alliance with four construction partners following the earthquake.

It initially undertook the recovery of the transport networks, and then work to make networks safer and more resilient.

NCTIR board chair Steve Mutton said they come 'a long way since then' since beginning in December 2016.

“The team has now worked over six million hours on the project and we’re ready for the final stage.

'We want to leave a positive, lasting legacy for the community that has been so welcoming to us,” Mutton said.

Work to rebuild the road and rail was expected to wrap up in late 2019, but was pushed back to late 2020.