Drone footage shows SH25 slip 'longer than a rugby field'

Newly released footage from Waka Kotahi shows a slip "longer than a rugby field" on State Highway 25a in Coromandel.

According to NZ Transport Agency, engineers and road workers are making "great progress" on the massive repair task at hand on the Kopu to Hikuai road.

In the video, Jo Wilton, Waka Kotahi Regional Infrastructure delivery manager explained how, "excavator drivers from Higgins have been busy cutting tracks above and through the top of the slip to allow drilling rigs to get in and carry out investigations on the soil.

"That will help to inform which of the three repair options is the most suitable," she said.

Watch the full video below for more details.

It comes as another crew is also working on a newer slip on SH25 between Opoutere and Hikuai.

"Our crews are working around the clock to reopen SH25 between Opoutere and Hikuai," Waka Kotahi said in a tweet today.

"Here's some footage of work happening. Arborists have removed vegetation to allow a digger to increase the width and length of cut into the bank, allowing traffic to keep far away from the slip."

Recent heavy rain events, including Cyclone Gabrielle, have left many major road networks up and down the North Island's east coast in various states of damage.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins toured the Coromandel to survey the damage.

He wouldn't be drawn when asked by reporters if some highways in the area would have to be abandoned all together, saying that was currently being looked at by Waka Kotahi.