Crews are continuing efforts in reopening State Highway 25 between Hikuai and Opoutere after it was closed again this morning due to further deterioration of the underslip.

New photos have shown just how much the road has continued to deteriorate after the initial slip earlier this week.

The progress of the slip that has partially closed SH25 between Hikuai and Opoutere on the Coromandel Peninsula over the last three days.

After experiencing 150mm of rain early Monday morning, the already cracked road suffered a “catastrophic collapse”.

Convoys were allowed through for a short window under a strict stop/go traffic management system on Tuesday and earlier this morning, achieved by digging out the overslip according to the Higgins Recovery Manager of the Waikato State Highways Ben Buttimore.

 “We widened out the shoulder and reconstructed a water table drain and have built a road pavement on top of some geogrid,” Buttimore explained.

He said it couldn’t be built to a “full compaction standard” due to the risk that operating a massive piece of machinery like a roller adjacent to the slip posed.

The road has since had to be closed following the further collapse of the underslip overnight last night, with no indication of when it might be open once again.

Crews are continuing to work on digging further into the overslip in order to widen the shoulder and create room for one lane of traffic to pass through.

Emergency services access will be maintained, Waka Kotahi wrote on its website.