A track through an alluvial goldmining landscape at Bannockburn is being realigned and upgraded by the Department of Conservation.
Doc is tendering for the work, which will take place within the Bannockburn Sluicings Historic Reserve before May. Small sections of the existing walking track will be realigned to strengthen the once-informal walkway.
Doc visitor and historic programme manager Anita Middlemiss said the track often became muddy and in some places eroded badly.
"The realigning is very minor; basically it will follow the existing track. Because there has been an increasing number of people visiting the sluicings and using the track, it has become eroded at places, and we will harden those sections," she said.
Ms Middlemiss said initially there was no track, just a few marker poles which people had followed over the years.
That had led to the definition of a track, she said. Upgrading the area had been planned for the last year, as erosion became more apparent.
An archaeological assessment had to be done in light of proposed work. Doc consulted the Central Otago District Council and New Zealand Historic Places Trust about its plans, and obtained consents.
