Rapid work by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) staff and contractors last week (20-25 Feb.) to shore up stop bank breaches on four rivers held up during the most-recent rain event.

In the first stage of the Rapid Rebuild programme Council staff prioritised temporary solutions for 11 stop banks breaches in the Ngaruroro, Tutaekuri, Tukituki and Waipawa rivers.

Incident Controller and HBRC Group Manager-Asset Management, Chris Dolley says he is proud of the work that was completed in just six days.

“We developed a system to identify the highest-risk locations and send resources to use bunding (gravel mounding) and other methods to provide some protection if there was a rain event. This turned out to be prudent given the rain that came through the province on Friday and Saturday.”

“Our team deserves a huge pat on the back for their quick solution to these issues,” Mr Dolley says.

HBRC crews are now pivoting to get on with more permanent repairs – work that will take months. Using a pod system, there are now 13 self-contained crews at work making steady progress toward restoration of the stop bank system.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I think the people of Hawke’s Bay should be confident that we are getting on with it as quickly as we can. This most-recent success in preventing any leakage or outflow from riverbeds is an example of how we are starting to restore our system,” says Mr Dolley.

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