A Night Out

Click pic for bigness

So Friday is looking good.

In time honoured Kiwi tradition we try and rip through our work so we can knock off early.

I planned to visit the fleshpots of Piopio, there to sup ale.

The driver of this truck put paid to that idea...

An hour after I arrived home I was off again, to Awakino.


The container truck had come to grief near Pay Cart Corner.

(In the old days the roadworkers from miles around, met the paymaster here, and got their brown paper pay envelopes. The pub is handy too ...)

Once again the cranes took up most of the road, which we had to close for 1/2 hour periods, while we lifted the various sections of the truck and load out of the way.


There are no detours around this area, we just have to try and get a lane cleared as fast as we safely can.


At night the scene cane be quite surreal, and very difficult to photograph as you can see.


The driver was shaken (& stirred) but is OK.

The local pub sent out some fish and chips, (and delicious they were too) ... so at least I had a chance to dine out.

Not quite what I planned though ...

News Story (short term link)
(Note this spot is a long way from the Awakino Gorge!)

Face Down, Outside The Pub...

The centre of the North Island has been hit by ice and snow.

That means road closures, and increased traffic through our highway.

We have had an incessant stream of trucks rumbling past all night.

A lot of them don't come this way much, don't know the road, and we nearly always get an incident or two.

It's a bit rich though when they try and demolish the pub.

It was freezing cold when I took this photo of a truck and trailer lying on it's side outside the entrance to the Awakino Hotel Beer Garden. The photo is a bit blurry, - condensation on the lens.


He lost the plot coming down the hill, got into the grass, took out a sign, and over it went. There were two on board, both got shoulder injuries.

At least it ended up off the road which saves everybody a lot of hassle.

With the tractor unit righted, you can see how much of a close run thing this was ...

Is nothing sacred?

Getting It Wrong

The stretch of road involved in the logging truck accident posted below, has been a source of worry for years.
There are no detours. Just a long wait if something happens.
Just a few days ago I was following a rig through there and he said to his mate on the cb, "You wouldn't want to get it wrong through here..."

A couple of local newspaper reports, a few months apart tell the sorry story

Sorry for the length, (a curse on short term news links)

30 April 2005
By SHARON MARRIS

A notorious stretch of Taranaki's northern outlet will undergo a $1.1 million upgrade.
Work on the 2km narrow and winding road between the Awakino Hotel and the Junction Service Station on State Highway 3 is scheduled during the2005-06 year.
The road, which has claimed at least two lives in recent years, will be widened and corners smoothed.
In October 1998, a Stratford woman and her three-year-old son died when their car went off State Highway 3 and plunged into the river 800m north of the Awakino Hotel.
Any accidents can close the road for hours, and cause major traffic disruption on Taranaki's only highway north.
On June 22, 2001, it was closed for six hours when an offal truck tipped over 1km north of the hotel.Vehicles were backed up 3km each way from the accident with no possibility for diverting the traffic while emergency crews cleared the spillage from the truck.

The upgrade plans were revealed at a Taranaki Regional Council meeting earlier this week."The security of our routes out of Taranaki is a high priority, so it's quite a sensible move," transport committee chairman Roger Maxwell said.
The project has been moved to second priority on the Taranaki Regional Land Transport Committee's list and there are hopes of financial assistance from the Waikato district council.
Councillor David Walter noted the road's reputation and its track record of accidents. The widening of the road and easing of corners would go some way towards fixing these problems."If it didn't go ahead now then my feeling is it would not go ahead for another 10 to 12 years," Mr Walter said

Anger flares at road funds snub
26 July 2005
By LYN HUMPHREYS
The omission of major Awakino roadworks from the Government's 10-year to-do list has put Taranaki roading authorities on a collision course with Government transport funding agencies.
After extensive consultation for more than six months, the Taranaki Regional Land Transport Committee (TRLTC) rated both the repair of the subsiding road north of the Awakino pub and the widening of the Awakino tunnel as high priorities.
But when the 10-year State Highway Plan was released earlier this month, the TRLTC was outraged to see the two projects were not listed.The committee had determined the road between the pub and the Awakino garage was fragile and in danger of disappearing into the adjacent Awakino River.
At the TRLTC meeting at Stratford on Friday, Transfund, Transit NZ and Land Transport New Zealand representatives were called to account.
TRLTC member Tom Cloke said the omission was a joke."To have it ignored when we put it as a top priority, are we being treated as fools in the provinces? We get sick of your damned processes," Mr Cloke said.
LTNZ Ian Hunter responded that the distribution of money had been made more difficult because Transit had been working on a different time-frame from LTNZ.
The two authorities were holding talks to try to make sure it would not happen again, Mr Hunter said.Barry Finch said the committee needed to be sending a signal to the Government to get it right.
Acting chairman David Walter said the committee would strongly object in a move to get the two priority jobs reinstated.
A letter would be sent to the LTNZ, outlining the committee's concern that the priorities had been given very little weight, despite extensive consultation, Mr Walter said.
And an urgent meeting would be called between LTNZ, TNZ, Taranaki's Technical Advisory Committee and the State Highway 3 Working Party to work through the issues.In the meantime, the Government had found another $500 million for transport, Mr Walter said.
The motion was passed unanimously.Transit regional manager Errol Christiansen, of Wanganui, said $304 million had been approved for Taranaki roading projects over the next decade.
The determination of where the funding would go was an annual process, Mr Christiansen said.


While they are squabbling, I hope nobody else "Gets it wrong ..."

I'm also puzzled as to why The Daily News didn't link these reports to their news story.
Not very professional.

From The Roadworker's Log...

click for bigger photo's

When you first arrive at an accident scene and see the rescue helicopter, it is with mixed feelings.


Obviously someone is injured, but it is good to see professionals on the job. Medical help is scarce in rural communities.


Here we have a logging truck and trailer on it's side. The trailer is over the bank, most of the logs also, but quite a few are on the road. With the truck across the road like this nobody is going anywhere soon.


Before the helicopter has lifted off, cleanup begins, engine oil being dealt with here.


The helicopter leaves for Taranaki Base Hospital, sometimes Waikato.


A digger is rounded up, and ushered through the banked up, waiting traffic.
It is offloaded onto the road.


It pushes the logs off the road


And as it is starts to get dark, lifts the truck onto it's wheels


The truck is dragged over to the north lane of the road, and now we can let traffic through till the crane arrives.


The crane has to lift the trailer onto the wrecked truck


Some hours later, the truck is finally loaded onto a transporter and taken away.
The road is cleaned up and made safe and then it's Home Time!


Then at dawn this morning the logs are recovered and loaded onto another truck.
A truck mounted grab does this, you can see the operator sitting up there under the lights.

At lunch we read about it in the paper (probably short term link)

Then it's away to clear slips on Mt. Messenger.

Oh it's all fun on the road....

Log Jam

I've just staggered in the door after another accident.
This time a logging truck blocking the road at Awakino.
The driver was injured & choppered to hospital.
It will be an early start to recover logs and fix damage, but the road is open and the truck & trailer cleared away.
More photo's tomorrow.

Hard Rock

I had a few odd loads on my truck today.
A jetty
A boat
Piles & decking
Geologists & engineers.

The boat was to take some tunnel experts to look at the rock structure where the river flows past the Awakino Tunnel.
Then they clambered onto the tray and peered at the roof inside the tunnel.
I am pleased to report it is made of rock and has a hole at each end.

The plan is to make the hole bigger.

I bet it doesn't happen any time soon, but there is nothing wrong with a day splashing about in the river.

Another Nautical Post

I think a farm worker might be in a bit of strife here. The tractor has been ramming fence posts which have been carried on the forks of the front end loader. The posts are now seaward bound, and soon they will need to row to the tractor.
A high tide and a bit of a fresh in the Awakino River have caused someone some ribbing at the local pub.

Ladies Mile
Awakino
Rest Area 300m