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Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 298, 4 August 1989, Page 4

• • • plus a smoother Bruce Road ride

From page 3 dictated the work should leave the least amount of ground restoration work possible so the road works would have the least impact. The work leaves 35,000 square metres of old road and works edge to be restored which, because of the short growing season at that altitude, will take about 30 years, said Mr Scheltus. "We were so hard on the contractors because of that," he said. "The more you disturb the longer it takes to restore. But they understood the rules we layed down and we worked together really well." A ntunber of groups were responsible for the upgraded Bruce Road which Mr Woollaston also congratulated, including his department, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (whose General Manager Dave

Mazey was especially mentioned for his persistence in pushing the project), Taumarunui Borough and County, Taupo District, the National Roads Board (who contributed 75 per cent of the project's funding), and Whakapapa ski clubs. RAL co-ordinated the fundraising of the extra $500,000 needed for the job. The original Bruce Road, from the main highway to the Chateau, was first formed in 1927 and was named after the instigator of that project, R.C. Bruce, a installation of a chair-. lift at the lower level means access to the T bar is possible even when the chair is not skiable. Bruce Road Travellers on the Bruce Road can now enjoy an easy drive on sea! all the way up the Bruce Road, which until

recently had long stretches of metal surface. A 1.8km deviation, from below the first bluff to Scoria Flat, is the major part of the improvement and Mr Woollaston congratulated all those responsible for the care taken in keeping the impact of the road works to a minimum. The deviation was first mooted many years ago, said District Conservator Paul Green. He congratulated the contractors, Bullocks of Wanganui, for their co-operation and said the environmental standards on the road are outstanding. Landscape architect Herwi Scheltus, who worked on the project, said the contractors worked well within the conservation constraints placed on them. He said the plans Rangitikei farmer and mountain enthusiast.

In the 30's the present "Bruce Road" was formed by depression relief workers. Cafeteria deferred The summer' s construction plans initially included the construction of a cafeteria at the top of the West Ridge Chair but the project has been deferred until next summer. One of the reasons for the delay, said Dave Mazey, was the uncertainty surrounding the siting of further lifts in the area. RAL have applied to build a detachable quad chairlift from the area to slopes higher up but they await a decision from the Tongariro Taupo Nation al Parks and Reserves Board, who have jurisdiction over the matter. Under the old parlc management plan the

company is only allowed to build T Bars at that height but RAL believes they have a case for building a chair. Which lift they build will influence where the cafeteria will

be sited because siting a T bar ' is influenced more by the terrain than a chairlift. Dave Mazey believes a T Bar impacts more heavily on the landscape because ground

works need to be carried out to build a dragtrack. DoC believes a chairlift would have potential to carry inexperienced skiers too high up the mountain, thus creating a hazard.