It's been over one year since a landslip in Bellbrook closed Toose Road but the site is yet to be repaired as experts continue to deem it too dangerous.
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The landslip which occured in March 2022 continues to be a complex issue for Kempsey Council with ongoing impacts to members of the community.
Residents' frustrations are ongoing due to challenges with moving live stock to market, accessing to town services, and taking children to school, however, their desire to repair the original slip continues to prove difficult with considerable movement being reported by experts.
When the Toose Road landslip was first reported Kempsey Shire Council engaged specialist geotechnical engineers to inspect and assess the site.
Since then there have been various site visits and surveys completed with geotechnical advice provided to council and presented to the community.
It has been confirmed the site is of a much larger ancient landslip and the slip continues to move.
Recognising the community desire to further investigate the slip and determine repair options, GHD conducted geophysical surveys of the site using ground penetrating radar (GPR).
The intent of these further investigations was to determine the overall depth to rock from the road surface, to gain a greater understanding of the risks the site presented.
Rock was detected either side of the 90-meter slip face but GPR could not detect rock within the effective penetration depth of 15 metres.
Following this a specialist team of geotechnical engineers produced a detailed report which concluded a depth to rock that varied from 17-35m from the road surface.
The combination of the GPR and Seismic analysis confirmed a more significant thickness of colluvial material than first anticipated, making a long-term repair of the road highly complex and not a suitable solution in the long term.
With businesses and livelihoods continuing to be affected by the landslip over 12 months on, Council has funded a third independent geotechnical engineering firm to review the advice provided on repairing the slip and the short and long-term access routes.
"From a visit in January to a visit in March [this year] there has been considerable movement," said Kempsey Shire Council General Manager, Craig Milburn, at the Ordinary Meeting on Tuesday, May 16.
"[Experts] are reevaluating based on new survey information we actually have. We don't have a final design or work method on how you actually address that slip if it is at all possible...engineers are still working on that".
Temporary repair of the slip site on Toose Road is possible, however, Council is waiting to receive information regarding safety and risk to contractors working on the road and users of the road.
This is one of four options council is preparing to present to Transport NSW to assess and they will have the final decision on the funding needed for the temporary solution.
The other three are at Towal Creek, Bellbrook.
It is anticipated that a final outcome will be communicated to Transport for NSW and the Reconstruction authority by the end of May.
A community information event is expected to occur in late May or early June 2023.
The findings of extensive reports can be found in the Business Papers for Council's Ordinary Meeting on May 16.
Read more at Toose Road landslip updates by Kempsey Shire Council
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