The Capability Group is a professional services organisation that combines behavioural psychology, learning design and learning technology to assist clients throughout the Asia Pacific region with leadership development, traditional and e-learning solutions.  Today ten professionals from the Capability Group and their subsidiary, Added Insight, were back at CUE Haven helping out with walking track improvement work.

The group included Dan, Drew, Fiona, James, Joanna, Libby, Natalia, Rhiannon, Trevor and Wendy.

The group arrived in two teams at separate times so Thomas described the work planned for the day and gave safety briefings to each group as they arrived.

The plan for the day was to do as much as possible to restore the Taraire and Riroriro tracks after the bridge connecting them fell down.

During the storms last year, the CUE Haven stream overflowed in areas, and we saw considerable erosion near the bridge that joins the Taraire track to the Riroriro track.  To prevent damage to the track, we installed timber retainer planks to support the track and prevent further erosion.  After another storm this past August, the stream once again overflowed and further eroded the bank.  Although our wood retainer planks held up, a very big Ti Kouka tree next to the bridge was undermined and fell across the stream.  The deep roots of the tree pulled away and undermined the bridge supports, causing it to collapse.

The bridge collapse has made the Taraire track unusable and created some challenges along the Riroriro track which will need to be rerouted to keep it away from the washout area.

Our volunteer team last week determined that the best solution would be to extend the Taraire track parallel to the stream and establish a new crossing further upstream where there is less risk of future flooding.  Instead of turning right onto the bridge, the track would now continue on until it reached the new crossing point.

The team started out by scouting the area to determine the best route which would minimize damage to the existing bush and also be a good place to re-establish the stream crossing in an area with lower risk of future flooding. We also wanted to minimize the climb up to the track on the other side.

And they went to work with the machete, loppers and spades and created a new track section.

Once the vegetation was clear, the next task was to level the track section as much as possible.

It didn’t take long for the team to create a straight and level track.  Future teams will finish it off with side boards, metal and a small bridge across the stream.

When the ti kouka tree that brought down the bridge fell, it also pulled down a lot of other smaller trees as well and they were blocking portions of the tracks.  Some team members tackled the job of clearing away vegetation from the tracks.

Several team members went to work with loppers and saws to clear the track.

The main focus was the work to relocate the Riroriro track.  The situation was complicated because the intersection of the two tracks by the stream had become a great place to have student groups gather to do water quality testing and explore nature.  Over the years we had built up a terrace with benches where students and visitors could sit and relax.

The team spent some time studying the situation and discussing possible solutions.

Restoring the existing track section wasn’t considered practical because of concerns over future erosion.

The team decided that the best approach would be to re-route the track behind the bench area and reconfigure the terraced section as a buffer against future erosion.

They used spare timber to brainstorm some alternate solutions.

Once they agreed on a general plan, the first step was to move the benches out of the way.

They used a string line to determine the new layout for the area and then developed a work plan for how to tackle the big earthwork project. 

The approach they settled on was to use the existing top retaining wall as the side wall for the track but also lower the level in order to eliminate a big step up to the new track section.  The soil removed would then be used to bench the area closer to the stream.

They went to work digging out the old steps and walls.

Slowly the new track configuration took shape. 

The hard working and very capable Capability team made huge progress in reconfiguring the track. Future volunteer groups will build on their work and finish off the track section.  The last step was to restore the safety barriers at the work area before gathering up all the gear and heading back to the volunteer cottage for a late lunch.

A big thank you to Rhiannon for continuing to champion CUE Haven at the Capability Group and for organising the day.

And a huge THANK YOU to everyone for all your hard work.  We so appreciate all of your good ideas and efforts.  The work you accomplished today exceeded expectations and you have all made a very valuable contribution to CUE Haven. 

We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did. It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones and working with you all and we especially enjoyed the many interesting conversations.

We very much look forward to having you all back for another volunteer day and also out for leisurely visits with your family and friends to check out the new tracks you have made such a good start establishing and also to explore more of your community nature reserve.

Thank You!! Thank You!!