New Zealand’s largest and most ambitious road maintenance project, the Tīrau to Waiouru Accelerated Maintenance programme, reaches a major milestone this week with the reopening of SH1 at the Desert Road on Friday 14 March at 1pm.
SH1 between Tūrangi and Waiouru, including the Desert Road, has been closed to traffic since 13 January.
“It’s been a major undertaking, with a large amount of work achieved in a short time,” says Roger Brady, regional manager of maintenance and operations for NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).
“In just over eight weeks NZ Transport Agency contractors have rebuilt and repaired 28 lane kilometres of road, which is 12 lane kilometres more than planned, and completely rebuilt the deck of the Mangatoetoenui Bridge, 23km south of Rangipō,” Brady says.
This maintenance work forms part of the government’s $2.07 billion investment into road and drainage renewal and maintenance across 2024-27 via the State Highway Pothole Prevention fund.
“By doing the work under full road closures, more invasive construction methods can be used which would not be possible under stop/go traffic management. It means SH1 is being brought up to a higher standard quickly, and New Zealanders can get back on a quality road surface sooner,” Brady says.
The team is putting in a huge effort to get the road reopened on schedule, laying an average of 500 tonnes a day of asphalt over the last week.
Some parts of the Desert Road will reopen under traffic management, including temporary speed limits, while the chipseal is embedded further by the vehicles using the road. This is expected to only be for 3-4 days as the team has spent some time getting this done with the machinery on site.
There will be further works required to finish the final surface on the Desert Road later in the year. This work will, wherever possible, be done at night. Scheduling to be advised.
Here’s what’s been achieved on SH1 in central and southern Waikato since September 2024:
- Lane kms completed: 86.78 lane kms (480,926m2)
- Road rebuild using foam bitumen stabilising completed: 51 lane kms (270,102m2)
- Road rebuild using structural asphalt concrete completed: 4.78 lane kms (26,837m2)
- Re-seals completed: 31 lane kms (162,514m2) – includes chip seal and asphalt concrete surfacing
- Tonnes of aggregate used: Approximately 162,609
- Truckloads of metal: Up to 145 loads per site per day
- Number of workforce hours to date (road crews): approx. 85,000
- Number of lost-time injuries: Zero
- Number of contracting firms utilised: Up to 32 working at once
Feedback sought
National Road Carriers Association is providing feedback to the NZTA project team on the SH1 roadworks between Tirau and Waiouru, and is asking operators impacted by the project for feedback.
There are four questions and answers will be anonymous unless contact details are provided for further discussion with NZTA.
Click here to provide your feedback.
Congratulations needed
Transporting New Zealand has congratulated NZTA and its contractors on the announcement the Desert Road between Waiouru and Tūrangi will reopen this Friday as scheduled.
The closure had meant 800 trucks per day needed to take a detour, with the vast majority using SH4. That resulted in a major increase in traffic on SH4 which usually gets about 240 trucks per day. The cost related to the additional detour time for trucks was about $100,000 per day.
Transporting New Zealand CEO Dom Kalasih says he looks forward to driving the route. In the meantime he is eager to hear members views, particularly on the safety and road surface improvements.
“We have been supportive of the idea that closing roads for a limited time is better than having long-term stop/go traffic management as NZTA says it enables the work to be done much faster and safer.
“We certainly aren’t complaining, but we are also fascinated that NZTA has rebuilt and repaired 28 lane kilometres, which is 12 lane kilometres more than was planned. Given the chequered history of delivering roading projects on time and on budget, we’re keen to understand how NZTA has managed to achieve so much more above target. If this performance can continue then that bodes well for the future!”
He also congratulated the many motorists and truckies that have managed the inconvenience of the detours.
“From what we’ve heard, despite the big increase in traffic and the anticipated delays at major intersections, things have gone very well.
“In fact the overwhelming response we’ve heard is that the communities along the detour route have benefited from the extra travellers.
“It’s a testament to the great culture we have – our people are very good at just getting on with what needs to be done to keep the country going.”
