November end to Gap roadworks
MOTORISTS will have to endure several more months of the stop-and-go roadworks through Cunningham's Gap with the last of the repairs expected to be completed by November.
A Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesman said the delay was due to unusually high rainfall in the first half of 2012.
Clayton's Gully is the last of the sites to be repaired along the Gap after it and 10 other sites were severely damaged during the 2010-2011 floods.
The spokesman said work was progressing on the new section of the four-lane highway.
"It is designed to bypass Cunningham's Gap's worst disaster-affected site, Clayton's Gully," he said.
"The 600m long section was the hardest hit and a new road design was needed after a major landslide affected three of the four traffic lanes.
"The new section of the highway cuts 50m into the slopes of the Gap, bypassing the previous road section and ensuring a stable road surface for the future."
To ensure the damage done to Clayton's Gully does not happen again a new drain has been installed, able to drain away an Olympic swimming pool, 40 cubic metres, every minute.
The spokesman said earthworks were under way to remove 130,000cu m of material, with about 200 truck movements a day collecting and carting soil away.
"As this is a new section of road being constructed, there will be minimal disruption to traffic while construction is under way," the spokesman said.
