Hawke’s Bay highways rebuilt after Cyclone Gabrielle
Cyclone recovery work on Hawke’s Bay state highways moved significantly closer to completion over the past year, with major construction activity restoring connectivity across the region and returning all sites to two lanes for the first time since Cyclone Gabrielle.
Another intensive year of work across Hawke’s Bay’s state highway network saw the Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) alliance complete approximately 88% of cyclone recovery projects, helping to keep communities connected and freight moving. By the end of 2025, all recovery sites were operating with two lanes in place for the peak summer travel period, including Devil’s Corner, just south of Devil’s Elbow.
According to TREC, the programme involved close collaboration with local contractors to address more than 110 faults across the network. These included slips beneath and over road formations, culvert replacements, drainage repairs and structural stabilisation works. While the majority of recovery activity was completed during 2025, a small number of projects were scheduled to carry into 2026.
TREC project manager Richard Bayley says the work completed to date had focused on long-term resilience as well as restoring traffic flow.
“We’ve stabilised slopes and underpinned highways to enhance road strength, improved drainage to help with stormwater runoff, which has enabled us to reinstate all damaged highways in the region to 2 lanes, in time for the peak holiday travel season,” he says.
Bayley acknowledged the impact the prolonged recovery had had on local communities. “We’d like to thank all our communities for their continued support while we work through an extensive recovery programme. It’s been a long road to recovery for the network and we know it hasn’t always been easy, and at times the network has been busy with construction and traffic management. We truly appreciate everyone’s patience since the cyclone. We’d also like to thank iwi and hapū partners for their partnership, and local contractors who have delivered these projects alongside us. It’s been a real team effort.”
State Highway 2 accounted for the largest share of recovery work in Hawke’s Bay following extensive damage during Cyclone Gabrielle. Along the winding 4.5km Devil’s Elbow section, 11 major projects were required, with the final five completed during 2025. At Devil’s Corner, the most complex site in the area, crews repaired a slip measuring approximately 40 metres long and 10 metres high. Initial works involved drilling 633 ground nails over more than four kilometres of drilling and excavating around 500 truckloads of material. This was followed by the construction of a 12-metre-high retaining wall made up of 24 layers of rip-rap baskets, geogrids and compacted aggregate to create a stable structure protecting the road. Traffic was later shifted onto the new alignment, and a programme of culvert repairs and replacements was completed to improve stormwater management.
Elsewhere on SH2, recovery works completed during the year included underslip repairs at Mohaka Rail Viaduct, White Pine Bush and Lake Tutira, slip stabilisation at Sandy Creek, drainage upgrades at Morere, reseals at White Pine Bush and Waikoau Hill, and road rebuilds at Sandy Creek, Tangoio Falls and Te Ngarue. NZTA’s separate project at Mohaka Viaduct remained under single-lane traffic light management. The final SH2 recovery activity scheduled for 2026 involved night closures to asphalt the Devil’s Elbow section, completing the last remaining cyclone recovery work on the route.
Recovery work on State Highway 5 was completed in December 2025, with final repairs at the Tarawera culverts. Two culverts damaged by the cyclone were repaired, along with erosion caused by overflow when debris blocked the structures. Additional SH5 works completed during the year included underslip repairs at Māori Gully, shoulder repairs near Eskdale Substation, reseals at multiple locations and a road rebuild at Captain’s Culvert.
On State Highway 50, recovery activity concluded earlier in the year with underslip repairs at Glencoe Gorge. The slip, approximately 15 metres high and 10 metres wide, had undermined a guardrail and threatened the roadway. An EcoReef wall constructed from hexagonal, infilled blocks was installed to protect the site against future erosion.
Repairs continued on State Highway 51 at the Tutaekuri (Waitangi) Bridge, where debris removal and repairs to concrete river piles progressed through 2025. Further work to replace damaged bracing beams beneath the cycle path was scheduled to continue into early 2026.
The final phase of the Hawke’s Bay cyclone recovery programme commenced on State Highway 38 in December, with work beginning on three underslips between Lake Waikaremoana and Tuai. The repairs are intended to restore the road to its original width, improve long-term resilience and maintain connectivity for surrounding communities. This work is expected to continue until June 2026, marking the final TREC recovery projects in the region.