Truck driver escapes large Otira Gorge rockfall in Arthurs Pass

A truck driver was forced to seek refuge under a purpose-built concrete rock shelter in the middle of Arthurs Pass on State Highway 73 after a massive rockfall came down across the road.

The large shingle slide happened mid-afternoon on Monday, in the Otira Gorge on the West Coast side of Arthurs Pass.

The truck and trailer was travelling down a steep section of the alpine route when it was forced to come to a stop under the rock shelter, as boulders one metre in size, tumbled down, crashing onto the road and blocking traffic.

A rockfall in front of the Rock Shelter with a truck and trailer inside State Highway 73 near Arthurs Pass. Photo / Supplied

The driver was able to get out of the truck and was picked up by road crews and taken to Arthurs Pass.

The truck has been left under the shelter and will stay there overnight until the road is cleared.

The man-made rock shelter was built in the 1990s to protect SH73 from rockfall and slips which regularly occur on the winding road between the top of Arthur's Pass and Otira.

State Highway 73 closed due to rockfall in Otira Gorge. Photo / Supplied

Almost 200mm of rain has fallen in Arthurs Pass in the last two days and that loosened shingle and scree in the area. Material has continued to fall from the cliffs above the gorge down on top of the rock shelter, sliding off the roof onto the road.

Waka Kotahi Maintenance Contract Manager Moira Whinham said "with rain continuing to fall across the Main Divide, it is not safe to reopen the highway tonight."

A truck is trapped inside the rock shelter in the Otira Gorge on State Highway 73 as a rockfall comes down. Photo / Supplied

"Electronic message signs will be in place at each end of the road – near Kumara Junction and at Springfield warning people of this closure and roadblocks are in place at Arthur's Pass and Otira, said Whinham."

People wanting to get to Canterbury from the West Coast and vice versa should take the Lewis Pass, SH7 route via Reefton and Waipara today and tomorrow morning, says Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.