Web location..   www.RiverRock.co.nz /Ngaruroro/Ngaruroro-Pakowhai   Under construction.... bb

Ngaruroro River - Pakowhai Bridge

The river bed is well filled with shingle and the berm-flow areas are well filled with over-growth, which very much limits the river to carry the water it was designed to handle.

These restrictions in the river will cause a breach of the stop banks upstream in the case of a major rain.

Please see the photos below, or have a look for yourself.

Above Pakowhai Bridge (Dog Park) flood overflow areas.

Below the Pakowhai Bridge

Free flow flood-water effectiveness, reduced from 300m wide to 45m wide.

The actual-flow & berm-flow width is 300m between stopbanks reduced to 45m wide by overgrowth.

15% of the original build. Measure and work it out for yourself.

2016 river bed was 60m wide, now it is 45m wide. It's now well filled with shingle, and reduced in width to 75% of 2016. (Water width 40m.)

This river build of the 1960s & 1970s managed the flood waters of Bola in 1988 well.

Now reduced to 15% of capacity since 2016. The possibility of another Gabrielle type flood is assured.

Gabrielle cost $14.5 billion in damage from Auckland to HB. $5b in HB.

How does this compare to the cost of keeping the river systems maintained ?

Below photo dated 3Sept2016 and the 2nd photo is 23Feb2024

The following photos are taken on Oct2024.

Further measurements.16.10.2024.  Stopbank top is 5.1m above the river water and 4.5m above the flood overflow area. The farmland is the same level as the flood overflow level.

 Return to home page