© 2022 Resilient River Communities

Resilient River Communities

Rangitāiki floodwall resilience mitigation

Region:
Council:
Bay of Plenty Regional Council

Three concrete floodwalls on the Rangitāiki River are being replaced to ensure they continue to help protect our communities from flooding in the coming decades.

During the 2017 flooding event a section of stopbank breached on College Road Edgecumbe, causing extensive flooding and damage to property and livelihoods. The independent review of the event made several recommendations, including the investigation of the structural integrity of the flood wall structures downstream of the College Road breach site.

The new flood defences are a combination of sheet piles (big sections of sheet steel that have interlocking edges that are driven into the ground) that are then covered by an earth stopbank. This combination ensures that any seepage is controlled and will not undermine the stopbank.

This project began in October 2020 and is expected to be completed by end of 2023.

The funding covers $2.25 million of the $5.0 million project.