Work begins on mammoth task to clear landslip on Noah's Range

The push to clear one of the largest landslides ever seen in the Far North is on in earnest with workers starting to clear trees and debris that is currently blocking road access along the Daintree’s picturesque Noah Range.

Like most parts of the Douglas Shire, the Daintree and Cape Tribulation areas experienced severe rainfall in the days following Ex Tropical Cyclone Jasper.

That continuous rain in mid to late December caused several significant landslips/landslides including the one that workers will work on over the next three days.

“On Friday (today) they’ll (workers) will be tackling one of the most complex and challenging clearing jobs on top of Noah’s Range,” a Council statement said.

“The longer this landslip and tonnes of debris sit on the road the greater the risk it could sheer and collapse.”

Council said a long arm excavator will be used to help clear the 56 metre high landslip.

Today, tomorrow and Sunday the road south of Cape Tribulation will be closed from 7.30am to 4.30pm to get as much work done as possible on this project.

The successful clearing of the debris blocking Noah’s range is critical to the Douglas Shire economy.

Many Cairns and Port Douglas based bus/shuttle tour companies access Cape Tribulation road on their day tours to Cape Tribulation beach and beyond, with the majority of these businesses unable to fully operate due to the major landslide currently blocking access through Noah’s Range.

Separate to that, there are a host Daintree hotels and resorts, Airbnb owners and businesses like PK’s and Turtle Rock Café that also rely on the public being able to access the full stretch of Cape Tribulation road to patronise these businesses.

*It's unclear whether today's works to remove a giant landslip will proceed due to heavy overnight rain in the Daintree.