Waka Kotahi’s environmental team recently provided first aid to a Mangamuka Gorge resident – a giant carnivorous pupurangi (kauri snail). These giants of the ngāhere (forest) are regular visitors to the Mangamuka Gorge road construction site.
The patient had only minor damage to the shell. Since snails have a strong ability to heal themselves, first aid was given to the shell in the form of the application of medical “Steri-Strips” to cover the crack in the shell and protect the snail from infection.
The snail was kept in a large plastic container with leaf litter and supplemented with worms, invertebrates and empty snail shells for calcium (an important dietary component for snails when they need to regrow their shell). The container was kept in the shade under a forest canopy for four days to protect the snail while it was vulnerable during the early phase of shell regrowth. It was then released into a suitable habitat near the capture site.
Protecting the environment during repairs is of paramount importance to Waka Kotahi and its partners. This is particularly important as the Maungataniwha Ranges are home to many native and endangered species.
Special creatures found during the work include pupurangi (kauri snails), copper skinks and the common tusked wetā. Any native species found will be moved deeper into the forest where they will be safe and can continue to thrive.
This Mahi is part of Waka Kotahi and works closely with New Zealand Environmental Management and Hapū to regularly survey any species that may be affected by the repair works and to ensure that all animals are moved away from construction sites.
New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said work on the gorge was proceeding at full speed despite recent storms and many of the more than 35 landslide sites were in the final stages of repair.
SH1 over the Mangamuka Gorge in the far north has been closed twice in recent years. The 13km section of the highway was destroyed by a series of 15 landslides during a severe storm in August 2022, a year after the highway reopened following a 12-month closure.
The repair work had been underway for less than six months when a storm in April 2023 caused another 20 landslides, some of them massive, with a length of 1.3 kilometers, which had to be repaired.
Then heavy rains on June 19 and 20, which triggered a massive landslide down the hill, threatened to further delay the opening. Work is ongoing around the clock to complete the work as quickly as possible. The two-year job to fully repair SH1 above the gorge was so extensive and complex that an extra $60 million was budgeted in the May budget for its completion, bringing the total cost to $160 million.
