About 1500cu m of unstable rock identified as a potential hazard to road users will be removed from the Nevis Bluff, between Cromwell and Queenstown on State Highway 6, from the end of this week, New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Central Otago Area engineer John Jarvis said.
The "significant amount" of weathered rock would be drilled and blasted as part of NZTA's continued monitoring of the Nevis Bluff following a large-scale rock fall in September 2000 which closed the road for two weeks.
Mr Jarvis said because of the difficulty and unpredictable nature of the work and for safety reasons, road closures should be expected for motorists between Monday and Friday from February 9 until the programme was complete, expected to be April 3.
There would be road openings on the hour every hour between 8am and 5pm weekdays and motorists should try to time their travel with a road opening.
Between the hourly openings, the traffic would be cleared about every 20 minutes, Mr Jarvis said.
Although the delays should be mainly up to 20 minutes, there would be closures of up to one hour during the course of the works to allow for blasting operations.
"Blast closures will be advised separately as works progress. However, up to three blasts per week are expected at this stage," he said.
