Michael Ferguson,Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
We are continuing to make progress towards the reopening of the Tasman Highway at Paradise Gorge by mid-July.
Vegetation clearing and cleaning of the rock face is continuing and a system is also being set up which can monitor fine movements in the remaining rock face. The Automatic Total Station will provide alerts for any changes in the stability of the rocks as the debris is cleared and the road is returned to a useable condition.
The system's base station was installed yesterday and prisms will be installed in the rock face today. Any movement in the rock face is reflected by the prisms back to the base station, meaning we'll have state of the art technology monitoring the stability of the rocks into the future.
Of course, the safety of our work teams remains a top priority and as part of additional safety measures, mesh will be installed across the bottom of the rock face to help prevent small rocks falling onto the road in the future.
This work will not delay the reopening of the road. Any rumours to the contrary are entirely false.
Any works that can be completed safely once the road is reopened will be scheduled and completed under traffic management such as temporary reduced speed limits and periodic lane closures.
I want to reassure Tasmanians that we are doing everything we can to ensure the road can be reopened safely in mid-July and will continue to provide regular updates about the progress of works.
The condition of Wielangta and Lake Leake roads is being maintained and road users are reminded to drive to the conditions and comply with the speed limits for the safety of everyone.
Both roads will continue to be monitored daily and road users who encounter potential hazards on these roads are encouraged to report them to the State Roads 24/7 hotline on 1300 139 933.
