More than 40,000 cubic metres of spill material has been removed from sites across Marlborough as it recovers from widespread devastation caused by heavy rain and flooding, almost six weeks ago.
Awatere Valley Road. Photo: Marlborough District Council
Marlborough Roads manager Steve Murrin said more than 1000 issues have been identified across the network including 200 under slips, 350 over slips, 24 structures and 125 damaged culverts.
"It's the worst damage I have seen in more than 30 years of involvement in Marlborough's road network."
Bad weather and heavy rain over the weekend further hampered recovery efforts, forcing the closure of the Croisilles-French Pass Road from Ronga Road, six kilometres from Ōkiwi Bay due to a large slip.
The poor weather continued in some places on Monday.
More slips also came down on the already damaged Kenepuru Road and Queen Charlotte Drive. There were also small slips on Port Underwood Road, encroaching but not blocking the road.
Top Valley Road is also closed and without road access following rain over the weekend.
As at 30 August, 40,000 cubic metres of spill material has been removed from sites throughout Marlborough, with more than 400 workers, thirty trucks and twenty five excavators were working across the district as part of the roading recovery effort.
"We have a number of priorities - these include full access up the Awatere Valley to allow for stock and feed movements, good access through Queen Charlotte Drive to at least Linkwater and then ultimately single lane access to Havelock through Cullens Point. Single-lane light-vehicle access for residents and essential services into the Kenepuru is also a high priority."
Work on the priority sites was happening simultaneously and recovery crews had been able to work during alert level 4 under an exemption from the Government.
The roading network is still fragile and remains vulnerable. Murrin said anyone who chose to ignore the road closures did so at their own risk.
Meanwhile in Nelson, heavy rain over the weekend also caused slips on a number of roads in the city, forcing the closure of some with the sodden ground needing to dry out before remedial work could take place.
Nelson City Council group manager infrastructure Alec Louverdis said contractors had been hard at work cleaning up in the aftermath of Friday's heavy rainfall.
Of the slips and blocked culverts assessed since that event, only Manuka Street remains completely closed. Iwa Road is closed to all but residents, with a full clean up expected later this week.
A site at Marie St remains under investigation, while minor slips at Cable Bay are expected to be cleared this week. Walters Bluff, at Atawhai Drive, is open to traffic with slip remediation and further clean-up to be investigated.