National Parks and Wildlife have today sent an update of the current situation regarding the Elliott Way, and its ongoing works to make the road safe for travel.

The NSW road links Tumbarumba to Cabramurra / Selwyn Snow Resort and Kiandra, and has been closed for months due to land slip.

In the summary below NPWS have offered exact detail of the issues they are dealing with.

The Elliott Way is now not expected to open until August 9, 2023. This will further impact travel from the western side to Selwyn Snow Resort for some travellers.

The cost of repairs to the slip area to make it safe for travel has now risen from an initial estimate of $1.7 million to approximately $3.7million.

"In recent days we now have better clarity on the scale and timing on the current make safe works as detailed below'" said a NPWS spokesperson.

• Rutledge Drilling continue to progress the make safe works being on site seven days per week.
• Current works are progressing well but given all work must still be undertaken using fixed ropes from the top of the slope it is a steady and meticulous process.
• With more information being obtained on ground conditions, the initial make safe scope of works has increased significantly and the geotechnical design requirements are more complex than what the initial contract works envisaged.
• The original works proposed two rows of anchors, one very top row for rigging off and to construct a temporary catch fence with. A second row of anchors installed above the crest of the slip were to be used to drape mesh over the crest and the face of the slip. These two rows totalled 35 anchors to be installed.
• The drilling showed that the ground conditions were soft and there were many voids beneath the surface of the slip face. Additionally, as the scaling of loose rock from the slip face was undertaken it became evident that more areas of the face needed anchoring.
• The final geotechnical design for the make safe works has recently been completed and requires 210 anchors to be installed (an increase of 175 over the initial proposal). To date over 110 of these have been installed.
• The design also requires the installation of a high-tensile wire rope net system over three large exposed rock boulders that are not able to be removed from the slip face. This system is fixed to the face with anchors that must reach 3 metres into solid rock.
• The cost of the make safe works has increased from the initial estimate of $1.7 million to approximately $3.7 million. NPWS is committed to completing these works as per the final make safe design which will enable the road to be opened with a single lane of traffic required past the slip site.
• The current works program has a forecast completion date of 9 August 2023 which will then allow public access.
• The design for the permanent geotechnical works are also progressing with drilling logs and anchor tests from the current works informing the most suitable solution. Once the make safe works are completed there will be a break in construction before the permanent works commence. This break will allow for funding to be secured, the appropriate tender process to be undertaken, and the permanent works at the site will commence once the weather conditions have improved in Spring 2023.

The section of road impacted is from O'hares Campground to the intersection of Link Road near Cabramurra.

See Live Traffic here for location and more details