A long stretch of summer road works has been completed across Central Otago.

There has been 80km of new road seal spread across the district over the past three months, including parts of Makarora, Wye Creek, Kyeburn and Roxburgh.

This year’s resealing also brought a four-year programme on State Highway 6A/ Frankton Rd to a close. 

Over four seasons and more than 40 shifts, crews laid about 7000 tonnes of asphalt on the entrance to Queenstown alone.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency senior network manager for Central Otago Robert Choveaux said the existing surface was coming to the end of its natural life and was in need of replacement for everyone’s safety.

The resealing, by Aspiring Highways for Waka Kotahi, is done over the warmer months to ensure it is effective and long-lasting. 

Robert said the summer timing comes with its own challenges. 

“While we need to complete these works over the summer period, this is often when there is more traffic and we need to work around this."

During each construction season, the team assesses how to mitigate the impact on road users, particularly on a continuous stretch of highway, in an urban environment, or where alternative routes are not available. 

Aspiring Highways’ crews work on SH85, between Alexandra and Ranfurly: (Photo: Aspiring Highways )

Between Drift Bay and Wye Creek on SH6 (a 4km stretch), crews installed stop-go sections at various stages to minimise delays as much as possible.

Robert said night works also posed a challenge each year.

“We fully appreciate we are often using noisy machinery directly outside a house. 

"However, due to the nature of what we do we don’t always have an option of doing this during the day.

"Doing this at night allows us to minimise traffic delays overall where they can peak at up to 23,000 vehicles a day.” 

Summer works also included “pavement rehabilitation”.

“This is where the underlying surface would no-longer support the application of regular chip-seal.

"In two sites we also lifted the road an additional 20cm to support drainage and provide additional strength. 

“At our Sheepskin site, 3km east of Luggate on SH6, we laid 2400 tonnes of aggregate over approximately a 1km section. At Blue Gums, 3.5 km south of Tarras on SH8, this was 1300 tonnes over a half kilometre stretch of road.”

The crew also successfully trialled escorted convoys and full overnight closures in the Kawarau Gorge.

“There are particularly narrow stretches of road, significant drops to the Kawarau River and multiple winding corners to navigate. 

"By deciding to close the road completely, rather than operate timed stop-go, we were able to focus solely on the works. 

“This has a dual purpose: providing a safe work environment for our crews with no traffic to worry about and quality management where the success of the sealing could be better controlled resulting in a high-quality job.” 

Robert acknowledged the inconvenience for some drivers and thanked road users for their patience.

Although the re-sealing project has closed for the 21/22 construction season, plans were already underway for next year.