News & Media Releases
A quarter of a century of world-leading technology
June 11, 2008
This week’s anniversary celebration of Transit’s New Zealand’s world-leading Milford Road Avalanche Control Programme marks 25 years of operating this busy state highway safely in difficult conditions.
Before then, three workers died building and operating the road from the 1930s to its opening in 1953. A fourth died in 1983, his death serving to accelerate the development of the avalanche control programme which is now recognised internationally for its innovative risk assessment and control tools and processes.
Transport Minister Hon Annette King is to unveil a plaque in Te Anau on Thursday, 12 June to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the programme which keeps State Highway 94 Milford Road – the only land link to top tourist spot Milford Sound - open and safe year round.
The 25th anniversary celebrations in Te Anau, headquarters of the avalanche control programme, will take place at the Distinction Te Anau Hotel on the lake front. Following the unveiling ceremony, the commemorative plaque which is embedded in a three-tonne rock, will be trucked to Monkey Creek, a popular tourist photograph site within the avalanche zone on State Highway 94 Milford Road.
“Milford Road is the lifeline of the local tourism industry, with Fiordland generating around $230 million for the New Zealand economy every year,” Roly Frost, Transit New Zealand’s General Manager, Network Operations said.
“But road access to Fiordland National Park was not possible until the road was opened in 1953. Even then, the road was closed all winter until the late 1970s due to the risk of avalanches in an area that experiences extremely high rainfall of between 7,000 and 8,000 millimetres a year.
“During the 1930s Depression, gangs of men were sent to build the road with picks and shovels. They had only a very basic knowledge of avalanches and the warning signs. Some were killed and bridge structures, road works and tunnel portals were often destroyed,” Mr Frost said.
“Later, in 1983, the death of road maintenance supervisor Robert Andrew spurred the fledgling Milford Road Avalanche Control Programme into rapid and full development. Fellow worker and friend Wayne Carran witnessed the accident and his determination that this should never happen again has been the driving force behind the programme’s development to its current world-leading status.”
Mr Frost congratulates Mr Carran, the avalanche programme manager, and wife Ann, who developed a staff location system and advance warning updates for road users and media, on their Queen’s Service Medals for Conservation awarded at Queen’s Birthday Weekend.
The State Highway 94 Milford Road Avalanche Control Programme has been entered in a major award, the International Road Federation Global Achievement Awards, to be judged in the United States in July.
Transit has also entered into a new contract this month with avalanche control contractors Downer EDi Works with a key focus on developing people with the necessary skills to manage the programme into the future. The new contract secures Downer’s status as the sole provider of the avalanche control programme to ensure this major risk-management process is sustainable.
“Our team is already part of the international avalanche control community and we anticipate more opportunities for them to gain experience off-season in other avalanche areas of the world and to share the skills they have developed as a result of State Highway 94 Milford Road’s unique conditions,” Mr Frost said.
Following a successful first season last winter, Transit will again open a kiosk on Milford Road eight kilometres north of Te Anau. This service is complementary to the avalanche control programme in meeting the safety needs of road users and kiosk staff will provide road users with information on safe winter driving, the state of the road, and check they have the right tyre chains and know how to fit them.
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For more information please contact:
Denise Beazley
National Communications Manager
Transit New Zealand
04 894 6458
027 294 2662
Lynsey Morgan
027 256 0224
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