Rain threatens road repairs

Press, 7 December 1979, Page 1

Rain threatens road repairs

The West Coast railway link was reopened last evening, but repair work on roads at Arthur’s Pass, Mount Cook, and Haast suffered a severe setback yesterday as heavy rain again lashed the South Island high country. The rain, brought by another north-westerly front, could mean that State highway 73 from Arthur's Pass to Otira might not even be passabe as a rough track before next week-end, said the district highways engineer of the Ministry of Works and Development in Christ-

church (Mr R. D. Odams). He said that some of the repairs already made would be undone if the rain continued and creek levels rose. “Everything depends on the weather,” said Mr Odams. State highway 80 from Pukaki to Mount Cook was closed again at noon yesterday, and houses al the Black Birch fan are still under threat from a slip. Heavy machinery worked in the Black Birch Stream until dark on Wednesday, and was in the stream bed at first light yesterday, directing

the stream away from the stopbanks protecting the houses. Ministry staff were faced with daunting construction problems on the Haast Pass. , Mr Odams said big slips in the area were still moving yesterday afternoon. Several deep washouts would have to be filled in, and unless the weather improved rapidly the pass might not be open to the public before Christmas, he said. Even then, the road would be open only for light vehicles, excluding caravans. Flood levels in the

Haast River earlier this week had reached the highest since the highway was opened, and the Gates of Haast bridge between Westland and Otago was in serious disrepair. Heavy bank erosion has occurred between the Gates of Haast bridge and Thunder Falls, and virtually all the big rock protecting the bank has been removed. Individual stones of up to 500 tonnes have been lost. Single-lane access has been cleared from Haast to Thunder Falls, and from Hawea to a huge slip just before the Gates of

Haast bridge on the Otago side. Between this slip and the Thunder Creek Falls is a series of washouts, dropouts, and slips, and it will be necessary to move the road on to the hillside in places. State highway 73, on the Canterbury side of Arthur’s Pass, was open as a bulldozer track only last evening, but was expected to be fit for public use by the week-end if the weather improves. The Christchurch to Greymouth evening rail service ran as normal last evening. ®