West Coast slip to be drained but more heavy rain forecast

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

Heavy rain forecast could slow progress on draining a West Coast slip.

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is hoping to drain the Omoto slip site, with a drill rig on site to drain water from the slip surface.

The historically active slip closed State Highway 7 (SH7) and the railway near Greymouth on the West Coast early in October after weeks of wet weather.

NZTA is using a drill rig to drain water from a slip which has closed State Highway 7.

The slip had begun to move in mid-August. The section of SH7, the main road linking Reefton and Greymouth, reopened on October 15 to a single lane but closed again days later after heavy rain caused it to slip another 2.5 metres. It has moved another 5m since then.

* West Coast highway troubled by landslips set to reopen

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A slip in Omoto which is east of Greymouth.

NZTA's West Coast maintenance contract manager Moira Whinham said movement at the slip site had steadied over the past week.

The rig had begun drilling boreholes on Tuesday so the groundwater could be monitored. Drainage drilling was expected to start later this week, but heavy rain forecast could slow progress down.

'We are monitoring the weather forecast over the next 10 days and continually assessing what impact it may have on our work.'

Metservice has issued a heavy rain warning for the ranges of Westland from Fox Glacier northwards until Friday. It said heavy rain would persist over the West Coast through the weekend.

Whinham said the drilling work was weather dependant but she expected it to be finished by November 18.

'We appreciate the disruption and inconvenience this is causing, particularly to residents in Kaiata and Dobson, and ask for their continued patience while we work on a robust repair strategy,' she said.

Grey district mayor Tania Gibson said she had had meetings with NZTA and KiwiRail and hoped the road could be reopened as soon as possible.

Business in Greymouth, Dobson and Kaiata had been severely impacted by the road and rail closure, she said.

KiwiRail South Island general operations manager Jeanine Benson said KiwiRail was determined to resume running the TranzAlpine service all the way to Greymouth, and to get our customers' freight onto rail.

Until the repairs are completed the TranzAlpine would continue to run between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass, with passengers bussed between there and Greymouth.