Beach Road will remain closed until a decision can be made on its future.

Project Reclaim, the Waitaki District Council’s programme of removing historic landfills and fly-tipping at risk of contaminating coastal Waitaki, wrapped up the extraction phase earlier this month.

The excavation work at Beach Road revealed 58% more historic fly-tipped waste than the estimated 12,000 tonne, across two sites, council infrastructure manager Joshua Rendell says.

The removal of the 19,000 tonne of waste, required larger earthworks to take place at both sites, and surveying is being undertaken to determine options for the road.

The site has been passed from Fulton Hogan back to the council, and in order to save on traffic management costs, barriers have been established at either end of the Beach Road closure, and will remain there until a decision is made regarding its future, Joshua says.

Project Reclaim involved the creation of a new landfill cell at the former Palmerston landfill site and close to 48,000 tonne of waste from from the closed Hampden Landfill was also moved there.

The total waste removed was the equivalent of nearly 45,000 2024 Toyota Hiluxes, 1 and a half RMS Titanics or 3.1 Auckland Sky Towers, he says.

The project was carried out to prevent an environmental disaster along the coastline, and has been completed successfully, Joshua says.

Another shot of the coastal work, which has affected Beach Road. Photo: Supplied