News & Media Releases
Ceremony marks 25 years of world-leading avalanche control
12 June 2008
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 New Zealand’s top tourist spots and an important base for the region’s rock lobster fishing industry.
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.
“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 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. Kiosk staff will provide drivers 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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