Crew educates pupils on Devil’s Elbow

Pupils from Tutira School got to see big trucks, diggers, road signs, soil anchors and lots of big boulders up close last week in a site visit organised by Transport Rebuild East Coast (Trec). 

Trec engineers, health and safety staff, traffic management crews and environmental teams visited the school and talked about the work they do, before taking senior students for a site visit south of the school to Devil’s Elbow on State Highway 2. 

“Devil’s Elbow is a complex piece of recovery work,” said Trec Hawke’s Bay area manager Andrew Shannon. 

“We have, understandably, seen a lot of interest from the local community about what is happening, and we wanted to lift the lid on the activity at the Devil’s Elbow site. 

“Before the site visit, our environmental adviser Mel Tran-Trung ran a fun PH scale test with material sourced from the elbow itself. 

“Mel ran through exactly what environmental factors have been taken into consideration during the recovery work at the elbow. 

“Our crews also ran through the importance of being safe on site with personal protective equipment, by getting students to wear correct items of clothing, and our engineers illustrated the magnitude of the work undertaken since the cyclone and what’s continuing. 

“Students told us their highlight on site was being able to walk right down into the elbow where they heard more about the work under way and what has been completed so far — before they went to see the bank where shotcrete has been sprayed around dozens of soil anchors, which are used to support the road, minimising the chance of underslips in the future,” Shannon said. 

“Showcasing the importance and excitement of careers in engineering, science and traffic management, this kind of event can expand a student’s sense of what’s possible and broaden their horizons for future career options. 

“The kids even put their new mana wave (an East Coast roadworker’s favoured roadside greeting) to good use, hours after learning them, when trucks went rolling past.” 

Shannon said work at Devil’s Elbow had been progressing well. 

“The culvert has been cleared and strengthened, rock rip rap and retaining walls used to strengthen the banks and a second road lane reinstated.”