West Coast highway troubled by landslips set to reopen

Friday, 11 October 2019

A view of the work contractors had completed on the highway by Thursday afternoon.

A crumbling West Coast road closed more than a week after a slip is set to reopen.

State Highway 7 at Omoto, the main road linking Reefton and Greymouth, closed last Thursday after a historically active slip moved another 30 centimetres after being originally offset from weeks of wet weather in mid-August.

The highway last Thursday as crews attempted to relevel the surface.

NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) spokeswoman Moira Whinham expected the road to reopen to a single lane early next week. An official update is set for Monday at 2pm.

'Movement at the slip has slowed significantly over the last week and all indications are that we will be able to reopen the road to single lane, from 7am to 7pm only, early next week.

Slumpage from last week, which closed State Highway 7 at Omoto, east of Greymouth.

'But we do ask people to bear in mind that this is dependent on slope movement over the weekend as levels in the Grey River reduce.'

A detour at Taylorville would be in place outside 7am to 7pm.

The reopening was dependent on weather conditions and any further slope movements, she said. A detour at Taylorville will be in place outside 7am to 7pm.

Crews are expected to be on site investigating the stability of the ground next week. They will also be working to control groundwater that is believed to be causing the movement.

Further options for the Omoto slip on Monday after receiving geotechnical information.

KiwiRail South Island general operations manager Jeanine Benson said KiwiRail would reassess options for the Omoto slip on Monday after the received geotechnical information.