Rangitāiki River floodwalls

Works are underway to upgrade the floodwall along College Road in Edgecumbe township.

This section of floodwall is the final stage of Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana’s work to upgrade floodwalls downstream of the Edgecumbe College breach site, as part of the Rangitāiki River Floodwalls project.

Whakatāne contractor, Tracks Concrete Ltd, moved into the site on Tuesday, December 6, and will use the coming weeks to set up access points to the stopbank.

In conjunction with the floodwall upgrade, additional tree removal and vegetation clearance is taking place along the upstream section of the Rangitāiki River Walkway under routine maintenance.

This is being done so the stopbank can be repaired and strengthened, and continue to protect the community. Stopbanks are only as strong as their weakest link and are vulnerable to damage caused by vegetation (such as trees), which can cause potential seepage issues.

Works are expected to pause around Tuesday, December 20 through to Monday, January 16, to reduce the impact of construction noise and vibrations on the community over the Christmas / New Year’s period.

Please note, the Rangitāiki River Walkway will remain closed until the project is complete (approximately April / May 2023). A detour is in place along the College Road footpath.

The Rangitāiki River Floodwalls project is one of six ‘shovel ready’ projects Regional Council received funding for as part of Central Government’s Crown Infrastructure Funding.

If you have any questions or concerns during the construction period, please direct them to engineering@boprc.govt.nz or 0800 884 880.

Works to upgrade the floodwalls along College Road, Edgecumbe, are due to begin in November/December 2022.

This is the final stage of the Rangitāiki River Floodwalls project, to upgrade the flood defences at key locations along the river, which will help protect the community from a flood in the coming decades.

Construction will take place from 87 to 109 College Road, along the Rangitāiki River walkway. During construction period (approx. November / December 2022 through to April / May 2023), the walkway will be closed to users. Low-level construction noise may impact Edgecumbe residents during normal work hours (approx. 7am to 5pm weekdays).

Ongoing monitoring will be done to assess the impacts. We will work closely with the appointed contractor to ensure all resource consent conditions are met and impacts on the community are managed appropriately.

The final stage of the Rangitāiki River floodwalls project along College Road is underway, with the 10 affected landowners supporting proposed designs and completion of the work.

The College Road section is the third and final stage to replace and upgrade the floodwalls along the Rangitāiki River, following the 2017 Edgecumbe flooding event.

The proposed design for the College Road floodwalls includes the installation of a new steel sheetpile wall into the stopbank, which will replace the existing concrete floodwall and provide more effective seepage control below ground.

Once the sheetpile wall is installed, it will be encased in concrete and a pool-style fence will be installed on top of the wall. This will enhance the look of the wall and provide security for neighbouring residents. 

As part of the work with affected landowners, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana will undertake some general landscaping to leave the newly upgraded area looking tidy.

Project Team Leader Peter Hay says all the landowners have been great to work with.

“Open and ongoing communication with all parties has been at the heart of the project,” says Peter.  “We’ve particularly appreciated the great cooperation and kind feedback we’ve received from landowners.”

Once the project has obtained resource consent, the works will go out for tender later this year. Works are scheduled to commence around November 2022 for a mid-2023 completion.

The Rangitāiki River floodwalls is part of the Regional Council’s flood protection work along the Rangitāiki River Scheme, which includes the Rangitāiki Floodway and Spillway development and future work along the lower catchment.

Flood protection, such as stopbanks and floodwalls, is the first line of defence when it comes to reducing the impact of significant flooding. These defences are important as the effects of a changing climate means there is an increased likelihood of more frequent heavy rain events and intense storms, alongside a rising sea level.

See the full details on Regional Council’s flood protection works along the scheme.

Work has started on replacing the floodwall on the Rangitāiki River near Thornton School.

The new flood defences are a combination of sheet piles (big sections of sheet steel that have interlocking edges that are driven into the ground) that are then covered by an earth stopbank.

The upgrade is designed to control excessive seepage - that is the slow escape of water through porous material - which can undermine and collapse the stopbank during a flood event.

This is one of three floodwalls on the Rangitāiki River with funding assistance from central government’s Crown Infrastructure Funding project.

The upgrade of the Greig Road stopbank has been completed and at the College Road site we have had initial conversations with directly-affected landowners.

The upgrade of the Greig Road stopbank on the Rangitāiki River has been completed.

The new earth stopbank with a sheet-pile centre is designed to control seepage - that is the slow escape of water through porous material which can undermine and collapse the stopbank and put people and properties at risk.

This site in numbers:

• 230m of stopbank constructed
• 235 sheet piles used
• 5000 tonnes of earth fill used
• 9 contractors
• Took nearly 3000 hours to complete

This is one of three floodwalls on the Rangitāiki River that Bay of Plenty Regional Council received money from Central Government’s Crown Infrastructure Funding project to help cover the cost of the work.

The Thornton School floodwall is expected to begin construction later this month, and at the College Road site final design is progressing and the first stage of talking with directly affected landowners has been completed.

The commencement of flood protection projects on the lower Rangitāiki has signalled the start of the 2020 construction season for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council engineering team.

Work is underway to replace a 300-metre section of flood wall on Greig Road, with Waiotahi Contractors making good progress on what is expected to be a four-month construction process. Investigations on the floodwall were carried out after the April 2017 flood which has led to the design of the new earth stopbank with a sheet-pile centre.

Engineering Team Leader Peter Hay says that during the construction period, that section of West Bank Road will be reduced to one lane controlled by a traffic light and Council and contractors thank road users for their continued patience.

“Designs are being finalised for the replacement of another section of Rangitāiki River floodwall on East Bank Road, near the Thornton School and work is progressing on concept designs to be shared with owners of properties adjoining the remaining flood walls on College Road, Edgecumbe,” Mr Hay adds.