Rangitāiki-Tarawera Rivers Scheme

2023-05-08 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 8 May to 12 May 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-05-01 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 1 May to 5 May 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-04-21 - Community encouraged to have their say on Rangitāiki Spillway

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is encouraging residents living or working in and around Edgecumbe to have their say on the Rangitāiki Spillway project.

The Spillway needs to be upgraded as it is part of the Rangitāiki Floodway, a key piece of flood defence infrastructure to help protect the community in a flood event.

In an event, the Floodway and Spillway upgrades will help divert water away from the Rangitāiki River. This helps reduce the risk of significant flood damage to both rural and urban areas (for example, the economic damage of the 2017 event was estimated to be $95M).

Engineering Manager Mark Townsend says since Regional Council last consulted with the community on the project in 2020, the estimated cost to upgrade the Spillway has increased.

The purpose of the online survey is to have a conversation about why that is, how it will affect ratepayers and what the options are in a challenging economic climate.

“High inflation, rising interest rates, Covid-19 and high labour costs have led to price hikes across all sector, including construction.”

He adds that during the detail design phase of the project, river modelling and ground investigations identified key risks that needed to be addressed.

“These risks were seepage and erodibility (scour) of the structures when the Spillway is in operation, as well as a need to create certainty that the Spillway would achieve the required flows into the Floodway.

“Since meeting with the community in 2020, the Spillway has been designed to address these issues, better manage water flows over the Spillway and give the community reassurance that it will perform as required. These design changes include additional concrete work, sheet piling around the structure for seepage control, drainage and paddock contouring.”

The current estimate to construct the revised design in its entirety is $7.8M (less $2.1M of central government funding), a $5M increase from the original estimate ($2.8M). The increased costs will be passed on to ratepayers via targeted rates.

Further to the online survey, a community session was held on Saturday 15 April at the Edgecumbe War Memorial Hall (corner of Kauri Street and Main Street) to meet with affected ratepayers and discuss the impacts.

Have your say online: www.boprc.govt.nz/rangitaiki-floodway

2023-04-03 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 3 April to 7 April 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-03-31 - Inspection works at the Old Rangitāiki Channel outlet

Bay of Plenty Regional Council will begin works at the Old Rangitāiki Channel outlet, near the Tarawera River mouth, next week (Monday, 3 April).

Seepage has been discovered around the structure, which means there is water seeping out under the current floodgate structure and bypassing the gate where the water is supposed to flow through in a controlled manner.

If there was a flood event, or significant increase in the river water level, this seepage could result in failure of the floodgate and potentially cause flooding downstream.

Using big metal sheets (sheet piles), Regional Council will create a temporary metal box around the structure. This will keep water out of the structure and let our team inspect its condition. This inspection will help inform the repair work required to extend the life of the structure.

Once the inspection is complete, the sheet piles will be lowered to cut off the seepage path and to allow water to flow through the structure until a decision on long-term repairs has been made.

Inserting the piles will require excavation in and around the structure. During this time, access to the Tarawera River mouth (eastern side) off Thornton Road may be limited or closed. Signage around the work area will notify the public of this.

The river mouth can be accessed from the western side of the Tarawera River, or via the beach access track in Matatā.

The work is expected to begin on Monday 3 April, 2023 and to take approximately two weeks.

We appreciate the community’s patience during this time.

Any questions, please contact the Bay of Plenty Regional Council engineering team on engineering@boprc.govt.nz or 0800 884 880.

2023-03-27 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 27 March to 31 March 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-03-20 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 20 March to 24 March 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-03-06 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 6 March to 10 March 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-02-27 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 27 February to 3 March 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-02-20 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 20 February to 24 February 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-01-23 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme week 23 January to 27 January 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-01-16 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme week 16 January to 20 January 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2023-01-12 - Construction update: Disruption on McCracken and McLean Roads

Construction update: Disruption on McCracken and McLean Roads

Bay of Plenty Regional Council will begin construction for the final stage of the Rangitāiki Floodway in March 2023.

The Rangitāiki Floodway is a key piece of flood defence infrastructure to help protect the lives and livelihoods of the community.

In a flood event, the Rangitāiki Floodway is designed to take pressure off the Rangitāiki River by diverting some of its flow (via a Spillway) into near-by farmland between stopbanks and out the Rangitāiki River mouth at Thornton.

What’s happening?

The construction process involves installing swing gates (heavy duty steel flood barriers) at two sites along the Rangitāiki Floodway:

• Site one: Two sets on McCracken Road (located between Hydro Road and Western Drain Road, Edgecumbe)
  
• Site two: Two sets on McLean Road (located between East Bank Road and Western Drain Road, Edgecumbe)
  

When the Floodway is activated, these swing gates will have two functions: They will act as a barrier on the road, keeping the community from entering a flood zone, and maintain the stopbank height of the Floodway, creating a channel that helps send water out to the Rangitāiki River mouth.

When not in use, the gates are locked open, allowing uninterrupted traffic flow.

How might this impact you?

Construction is due to begin in March 2023 and each site is expected to take approximately seven weeks.

During construction, road closures will be in place around the swing gate site and there will be no through traffic. Residents will be able to access their homes, however detours will be in place to travel to and from McLean and McCracken Roads.

We will keep you updated on construction and road closures via this project page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Project Lead Niroy Sumeran on engineering@boprc.govt.nz or 0800 884 880.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

2022-12-19 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme week 19 December to 23 December 2022.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2022-12-12 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme week 12 December to 16 December 2022.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2022-12-09 - Construction on College Road floodwall begins

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.

2022-12-05 - Weekly update

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme week 5 December to 9 December 2022.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

2022-01-14 - Investigations on Tarawera River

We will be undertaking geotechnical investigations on the Tarawera River between the river mouth and Braemar Springs next week.

These investigations are part of our efforts to understand more about the condition of our flood defences below the surface.

The work is focused on finding out the soil composition and ground stability and the results will be used to determine what needs to happen next.

Flood protection is expensive and one of the main issues our Council is facing is balancing the cost to ratepayers while maintaining and upgrading this infrastructure to keep up with the changes in our climate. We are constantly looking at different ways to protect and manage this in the decades to come, while minimising impacts on the environment.

We have completed an archaeological assessment which guides us in protecting the cultural heritage of the area and we thank local residents for their understanding as we undertake these important flood protection investigations.

2021-11-15 - Work recommencing on Rangitāiki Floodway

We are recommencing work on the Rangitāiki Floodway project on the outskirts of Edgecumbe in the section located between SH2 and Mclean’s Road.

Please take extra care on the roads around the site, we’ll be taking extra care too.

We're doing this work to improve how water travels down the floodway which will reduce the pressure on the Rangitāiki River stopbanks during large flood events.

2021-10-12 - Progress on the Thornton School Floodwall

We are making good progress on replacing three concrete floodwalls on the Rangitāiki River to ensure they continue to help protect our communities from flooding in the coming decades.

We’ve now finished most of the work at the East Bank Road site near Thornton School after completing the Greig Road stopbank earlier in the year.

Conversations with affected landowners are continuing at the remaining site - 87-109 College Road - with work expected to begin in the new year.