Wet weather is delaying a start on coastal protection work to stop erosion and rubbish being washed out of the former Hampden landfill.
The Waitaki District Council has received approval from the Otago Regional Council for the work along the face of the closed landfill on the beach between Hampden and the Moeraki boulders.
Rooney Earthmoving and Whitestone Contracting have been awarded the contract for the job, which is expected to cost about $200,000.
The work will be paid for by reserves carried over from the last financial year and a loan.
Assets group manager Neil Jorgensen met the two contractors this week to discuss when the work could start.
Mr Jorgensen said yesterday the contractors were now discussing how the protection work would be done and how it would fit in with current commitments.
They would report to the council within the next two weeks.
A rock rip-rap structure will be constructed at the foot of the landfill to protect it from further coastal erosion.
It will be built in such a way that it can be shifted if erosion cuts away more of the landfill.
The work was delayed after the Department of Conservation discovered a cone-in-cone geological formation in the landfill which it wanted protected and not damaged by the protection structure.
