Mountain Spur On Move

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30857, 16 September 1965, Page 1

Mountain Spur On Move

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, September 15. In the middle of the North Island a whole spur of mountain is moving, taking the main roads and the main trunk railway line with it. There is no apparent way of either stopping the giant slip or of rerouting the roads or rail.

A report on the slip which is at Toe Toe, near Utiku. was given to the National Roads Board today by the Director of Reading (Mr J. H. Macky). 4

Mr Macky said he had recently gone over the whole area of the slip with geolog ists. Other slips had occurred in the area, but this one. which was about a mile square, was apparently at the tail of a very old slip about which little was known. Heavy Rain Already about half the roadway had slipped, and railwaymen were finding it necessary to lift the railway lines every day. The drift had been up to 22 feet in a week. The whole of the area had been saturated with heavy rain. Water gathering in fissures up to 30 feet deep had contributed to the slipping. Mr Macky said the road could be swept away at any time. Action had been taken to find another route, but this had been unsuccessful.

“Fine weather over the last three weeks has meant some improvement in the situation,” he said. “Over the last week, the railwaymen have only had to shift the line once. This is an indication of how a comprehensive system of draining the land might make a difference." Measure* Taken Mr Macky reported that it had been decided to join with the Railways Department in financing measures to combat the movement. The purchase of land was being negotiated with this in mind. Special measures suggested were the bulldozing of the area to eliminate the pockets where water accumulated. It was a question of compacting I the surface so that the water I could drain off.