Media Release
Transit New Zealand
National Office
Media Release
12 June 2008
Ceremony marks 25 years of world-leading avalanche
control
A three-tonne lichen-encrusted
rock featuring a commemorative plaque was the centrepiece at a ceremony in Te
Anau today (12 June) marking 25 years during which Transit's world-leading
Milford Road Avalanche Control Programme has kept the state highway open and
safe from avalanches.
Transport Minister Annette King
unveiled the plaque at a ceremony attended by members of the Fiordland community
for whom State Highway 94 Milford Road is an economic lifeline. The road is the
only land link to Milford Sound, one of
The highway runs through a
mountainous area which experiences avalanches that are regarded internationally
as among the world's most powerful. The Milford Road Avalanche Control
Programme is the only one in the world that relies totally on helicopters to
drop explosives triggering controlled avalanches before they can become a danger
to travellers on the road.
The unveiling of the plaque on the
front lawn of the Distinction Te Anau Hotel by Lake Te Anau was a poignant
moment for the man who has been the driving force behind the programme, Wayne
Carran. The plaque was blessed by Ngai Tahu representative Dean Whaanga on
behalf of the local Oraka Aparima runanga.
"The ceremony brought back
memories of my friend Robert Andrew who was killed by an avalanche while we were
working together on the road back in 1983," said Mr Carran.
It was that tragedy that
accelerated the development of the avalanche programme which had its beginnings
in 1983. The determination of Mr Carran, who is avalanche control programme
manager, and his wife Ann to prevent any further deaths on the road from
avalanches saw them awarded Queen's Service Medals for Conservation in the
Queen's Birthday Honours last week.
The
commemorative plaque and rock will be trucked to a permanent resting site in
Monkey Creek, a popular tourist photograph site within the avalanche zone on
"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 at the
ceremony.
Transit
Acting Chairman Bryan Jackson said, "The programme is a prime example of
Kiwi ingenuity in its high-tech risk assessment and control tools and
processes."
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
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
Visit the Milford Road website
View
photo of Transit Acting Chairman Bryan Jackson, Avalanche Programme
Manager Wayne Carran and Transport Minister Hon Annette King at the
unveiling of the plaque
For
more information please contact
Denise Beazley
National Communications Manager
Transit
04 894 6458
027 294 2662
Lynsey Morgan
027 256 0224