A helicopter has been used to drop three diggers into the remote Mt Messenger bypass site on State Highway 3 in Northern Taranaki.
An excavator is flown in to a remote area of the SH3 Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass project site. Photo: Supplied / Waka Kotahi / Andy Jackson
The diggers will allow contractors to work on the northern anchor point of the project's 1.1km $8 million cableway, which will eventually take machinery and personnel into the heart of the project.
Waka Kotahi principal project manager Chris Nally said while the excavators got to work, a kiwi fence was being built to keep the birds and other wildlife clear of the work area.
"The team's ecologists have been monitoring kiwi in the area for many years, fitting them with radio tracking collars to understand the size of their territories and ensure the project is aware of their whereabouts," Nally said.
Photo: Supplied / Waka Kotahi / Andy Jackson
"Throughout the project, we'll be taking a number of measures to protect kiwi, including the use of specialist dogs and handlers to detect kiwi without radio tracking collars. Any kiwi at risk of harm will be carefully moved to a safe part of their territory."
The project was also committed to protecting other native wildlife in the area, including long-tailed bats, lizards and freshwater fish, Nally said.
Development of a 3650ha pest management area on either side of the new route would play a key role in minimising the threats from predators such as rats, stoats, ferrets and possums, he said.
As works progress, the current stop/go controls on SH3 adjacent to the project site would continue from 7am to 5pm daily, including weekends, for about 70 percent of the time, until at least the end of September.
At present, delays were expected to be no more than 15 minutes.
The $280 million bypass is due to be completed in mid-2026.