The extraordinary effort taken to build this unique road includes the following key facts:
- 27 kilometres long.
- Six years to construct.
- 11.4 million cubic metres of earth excavated/moved.
- 660,000 tonnes of aggregate brought to site.
- 104,000 cubic metres of concrete used.
- 7,900 tonnes of reinforced steel used in bridges and other structures.
- Over 115,000 tonnes of asphalt laid.
- 25 bridges and large culverts.
- Longest bridge: Te Ara a Toa – 230 metres.
- Highest bridge: Te Ara a Toa – 60 metres.
- Largest cutting: Pouāwhā – Wainui Saddle – 70 metres high.
- 534 hectares of ecological mitigation and replanting (includes 2.5 million native trees and plants).
- Eight streams modified/diverted.
- Over the course of the construction around 7,700 people have worked on site*
* Personnel figures include sub-contractors and everyone from ecologists to digger drivers to cleaners. If we included the people who have worked off-site (such as suppliers, designers and steel fabricators) the number would greatly exceed this.
