Waka Kotahi Wellington Transport Alliance (WTA) is a partnership between Waka Kotahi, WSP and Fulton Hogan. Together, they’re responsible for the maintenance and management of state highways across Greater Wellington.
Ross Balfour, one of a handful of our WSP colleagues, has been called out to several events on Wellington’s transport network over the past four years. It’s a high-stakes job. The WSP engineer sometimes responds to situations that have blocked a highway in both directions – usually from landslips or serious traffic incidents.
Last August, Ross was sitting down to dinner with his family when a call came in on his two-way radio. A massive slip had come down on State Highway 58. He donned his work boots and high-viz jacket, then hit the road - arriving to find 18,000 cubic metres of soil had fallen across the road.
Responders like Ross assess the severity of events, the likelihood of further immediate deterioration, risk to staff onsite, and the impact on the transport network. They have a duty of care to keep the affected area safe for site workers and road users. They’re also tasked with calling in specialist technical assistance and make the all-important decision on road closure.
With large landslips, geotechnical engineers quickly get dispatched to site as part of a specialist response phase. Afterwards, WTA provides the long-term engineering and technical expertise needed to manage compromised slopes, so they won’t keep tumbling away in future.
On-call duty engineers from WSP and Fulton Hogan work as primary responders for WTA once every six weeks.
Ross says callouts involve quick moving, unpredictable situations. There’s no set of drawings to guide decision-making, so the first responders must have their wits about them and be agile and resilient.
Preparation is key. When it’s been raining heavily for days on end, Ross will open the Met Service app and monitor weather conditions more than usual. He makes sure his work vehicle has suitable clothing and footwear, and checks all batteries are fully charged.
A small core of engineers from WSP take on regular callout duties for maintenance and network operations across the country, including James Ballard, Grant Gordon and Troy Chapman.
WTA Performance Manager and WSP Client Director for Asset Network Performance Gary Porteous says it’s a highly challenging but rewarding role that requires specialist knowledge of a city’s transport network, quick thinking, mental toughness, and having to respond at a moment’s notice.
Some callouts require long hours on site or may involve traffic fatalities. There are protocols in place for engineering responders to stand down and recharge physically and mentally after an event.
Wetter months generally see a higher number of callouts. But with climate change resulting in more frequent and extreme weather events year-round, WTA always stands at the ready.
Gary recalls several Friday nights in a row last year when landslips disrupted peak-hour traffic.
“From last July, the number of callouts went through the roof. The most disruptive event was a slip in Pukerua Bay that spilled onto what is now State Highway 59. That one is still being remediated.”
The work doesn’t always stop when the road corridor re-opens. With an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure, WTA carries out six-monthly inspections of slopes across Wellington’s transport network and will take advantage of dry weather to reduce the risk of rockfall.
For all the challenges, Ross loves the unpredictable nature of his on-call duties with WTA.
“You don’t know what you’re going into and must make quick decisions based on information available at the time. Ultimately, it’s about the pride in getting the transport network back up and running in a safe fashion for our workforce and the road users.”
