By Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporter
A digger working on the replacement of Waitaria Bay's new jetty has become stuck in the sand and submerged. Photo: Supplied via LDR
Work to replace a Marlborough Sounds jetty has taken a dive after a digger got stuck and became submerged.
Contractors were replacing the critical jetty at Waitaria Bay after the old one was closed by the Marlborough District Council in January due to safety concerns.
Marlborough Roads transport recovery manager Steve Murrin said in a statement that the digger had become stuck on Tuesday. There were no injuries.
"A digger became stuck in the sand, then the tide came in and submerged the cab," Murrin said.
"No-one was injured and controls to prevent any environmental impact were put in place around the machine. There are no fuel or oil leaks.
"Contractor Egypt Construction is now working with Johnson's Barging to recover the machine as soon as is practical."
Work on the new jetty began last week with the goal of having it ready for use by Christmas.
Murrin said the sunken digger would cause some delays but crew was still hopeful the new jetty would be ready on time.
"A 23-tonne digger was delivered to the site by barge yesterday, and a second 30-tonne digger was due there this morning to begin the extraction of the digger," he said.
"The plan is to use the two diggers to pull the trapped digger to high ground where it will be loaded on a transporter and removed from the site.
"Low tide is around 4pm this afternoon."
The existing jetty was damaged by a landslide in the 2022 storm and was closed after a routine inspection found it was degrading faster than expected.
The closure caused disruption to the community, which relied heavily on boat access, particularly while the main road to the area, Kenepuru Road, still had temporary closures for roadworks despite reopening to the public in December.
The travel challenges had left Waitaria Bay School "more isolated than ever", and emergency services had to use a jetty at Fish Bay, a 15-minute drive away.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
