I came across this video from Geovert documenting its role in the recovery following the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand. It provides a compelling look at the scale and urgency of the slope stabilization and rockfall mitigation work required to reopen State Highway 1 and the Main North Line rail corridor after widespread coseismic landslides.
In the video, Geovert describes working alongside the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery alliance to rapidly scale hazardous rock faces, install stabilization systems, and coordinate specialized construction resources under extreme time pressure. The effort was widely regarded as setting a new benchmark for rockfall protection and slope remediation in New Zealand.
Through WSP’s involvement in the Kaikōura recovery and subsequent resilience initiatives, I have learned a great deal about how this event reshaped geohazard management practices in New Zealand. That work included the development of data-driven inspection workflows, corridor-scale GIS systems, and decision-support tools that allowed hazards to be tracked, prioritized, and managed in near real time. Much of that work was led by my colleagues in New Zealand.
What makes the Geovert video particularly interesting is that it shows the recovery from the contractor’s perspective, complementing the more planning- and data-focused views often presented by owners and designers. Together, these perspectives help illustrate how technical design, field execution, and geospatial decision-making came together to restore a critical coastal corridor in an exceptionally challenging environment.
Disclaimer: Randy Post is an employee of WSP USA. The views expressed on this website are entirely his own and not those of WSP.
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