Queen Charlotte Drive repairs update

Marlborough Roads recovery works on Queen Charlotte Drive are progressing with six sites already completed and another six under construction.

A mechanically stabilised earth wall, near Cullen Point on Mahakipawa Hill, was started in February and Marlborough Roads Manager Steve Murrin said this was one of the more complex sites of the recovery project.

“To construct the wall the crew had to stabilise the road before digging down through the soft ground until firm foundations were found,” he said. “They will then build back up by layering a mesh product between layers of good soil to create a stable wall for the road to be reinstated on.”

Along with the wall construction and road reinstatement, drainage improvements are also being undertaken, scheduled to be completed mid-year.

“Another significant site we’re working on is the installation of a large precast concrete box culvert near Moenui Road,” Mr Murrin said.

The culvert is 1.5m by 1.5m in diameter, more than 18m long with an anchored concrete beam to support the road shoulder, as well as a reinforced embankment to increase the stability of the road.

Sites already completed this year include four retaining walls and two H-pile walls at Momorangi and Aussie bays, and two railway iron walls near the Grove Jetty.

“A number of the sites are incorporating railway iron to build retaining walls, which is both cost-effective and good for the environment as we are reusing an existing material,” Mr Murrin said.

A second retaining wall at Aussie Bay is also being constructed using H-piles, a steel product used when railway irons can’t be.

Crews are also busy near Governors Bay with slope stabilisation and road realignment, which will restore this section of road to two lanes.