One lane of Barry Road may remain closed for months, after the Hanging Rock road slipped away during wet weather this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tamworth Regional Council Manager of Operations and Construction Murray Russell blamed the road failure on a slip circle.
"I've been here 13 years, this is the most significant one that I've seen in the time I've been here," he said.
READ MORE:
Tamworth council staff had already assessed the land slip in previous months.
Mr Russell said the area now shows the slip has extended down much further than they expected, with signs of movement as far as 75 metres away from the road.
"The extent of the slip is now much bigger," he said.
"It's extending a long way down the slope. The work that we've done is essentially only in the top half of what's moving now so obviously the repair is going to end up quite a bit bigger."
Tamworth council staff have engaged specialist geotechnical staff to assess the slip, he said.
He said the engineers road would likely recommend "a similar concept" of repairs, but bigger.
Mr Russell estimated the repairs could take "a couple of months", "given the timing".
"I'd be surprised if it cost less than $100,000 to fix," he said.
"I'd be also very surprised if it was a million."
Local business owner Russell Sydenham said the road restrictions wouldn't be too onerous "so long as the traffic lights are timed correctly".
Mr Sydenham drives the road at least once a day, often more than once.
"The traffic's not heavy on that stretch of the road," he said.
"They need to sort out so those traffic lights change when there's no risk of a another vehicle coming from the other side. I've sat there for minutes. That's just a waste of time."
Slip circle failures are caused by a combination of steep soil, with high moisture, during heavy rain.
It can be prevented through better drainage or by flattening the soil.
Tamworth's roads have seen more rain in the last 12 months than in several years prior.
Mr Russell said almost all of Tamworth roads have held up in the face of the extra moisture, with most of the biggest problems in the granite country above Moonbi.
One lane of Barry Road is currently open with traffic lights.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News