Timeline
Site blessing
This week we held a site blessing in preparation for works to start on Monday 18 November.
The blessing was attended by key representatives from Waitaha, Council, Fulton Hogan, Beca (archaeologist), Tree Wise Men (arborists) and a local resident whose land will house the site office.
Business owners and residents of No. 4 and No. 5 Roads are invited to attend a Project Information Meeting, at McManaway's Packhouse on Thursday 21 November, at 10am.
Representatives from Council, Beca and Fulton Hogan will be on hand at the meeting to provide further details about the project and answer any questions.
Fulton Hogan awarded contract
Fulton Hogan have been awarded the contract to build the new bridge and are expected to start site works within the next couple of weeks.
Prior to work starting on the bridge, there will be a site blessing by Waitaha iwi, portacoms will be moved onto site, environmental controls will be put in place to manage any potentially dirty stormwater, vegetation will be cleared, and a cutting will be created for the approach to the new bridge.
- The final design for construction has been issued to Fulton Hogan
- All of the required consents and authorities are in place
- All topsoil and vegetation removal will be monitored by a Waitaha representative and an archaeologist
- We'll be keeping in touch with local residents along the way, including a meeting with them before site works start
Site set up
25 November 2024
The site is all set up, traffic management is in place and environmental controls have been established around the laydown area.
We've started clearing vegetation for the northern embankment, and then we'll move on to setting up the crane pad on the northern side to start the piling.
Before the vegetation was cleared, the area was monitored by an ecologist for any lizards, bats or native bird nests, and nothing was found. We also retained timber from a number of selected native trees, which has been delivered to Waitaha iwi.
Closure for Crane Pad Construction
Work has begun with constructing the crane pad on the Southern side of the bridge on Monday the 9th December. The road will need to be closed in order to complete the excavation and placement of compacted material safety.
The bridge will be open and working under the traffic lights during the day for all other traffic. Emergency services access will always be maintained. These works are highly weather dependent.
From: 9th December - 11th December
Hour's road shut: 7am-5pm
Alternative Route: Manoeka Road for No 5 Rd Residents only.
Moving of piling equipment
Plans to start moving the piling equipment from the Nothern side of the bridge to the Southern side of the bridge commences on the 11th of December. There will be short delays of around 20-30 minutes while loading and unloading the piling rig and equipment. The crane will be shifted on Thursday morning at 8:30 am. Expect delays on Thursday morning while the boom is attached to the crane.
No.5 Road - Closure for Piling Works
Plans to start constructing the piles on the Southern side of the bridge will begin on Thursday the 12th of December. The road will need to be closed from 7am-5pm to enable the safe installation of these piles. The bridge will be open and working under the traffic lights during the day for No. 4 Rd residents and all other traffic.
This will follow through from 12th December - 20th December excluding weekends and nights.
Piling update
18th December - 10th January
We have encountered some issues with the installation of the Southern piles yesterday, the 17th of December. This work will not be completed by the end of the year, and we will need to resume piling works in the new year. Starting Monday 6th January, No.5 Rd will be closed while piling works is completed.
An update on when the road will reopen will be provided the same week.
Meaning we will not be removing any plant from site this week and will need to leave the crane piling drill rig on No.5 Rd over the break. There will be access past the plant for No.5 Rd residents.
Emergency services access will always be maintained.
18th-20th December
Plans to remove all the piling equipment from the site begins on the 18th of December and concludes on the 20th of December.
There will be 20–30 minute delays while equipment is being loaded onto the transporters.
No.5 Rd will be open again and the site will be unoccupied from close of business, Thursday 18th December, through to Monday 6th January when work will resume.
Emergency services access will always be maintained.
Southern piles installation
We are in the final stages of installing the southern piles and will start removing the piling equipment from Monday 13 January.
No. 5 Road will remain closed on Monday while the crane is broken down ready to be taken away, and will reopen on Tuesday morning. There will be a stop/go on No. 4 Road, and there may be times during Monday and Tuesday when we need to stop traffic in both directions while plant is being loaded onto trucks.
Next week we will also begin excavation of the pile caps and the bank on the northern side of the bridge. We will be loading trucks in this area, however the road will remain open, with stop-go lights in place.
Piling completed
We've completed the piling, and traffic management is back to normal.
Next week we'll start building the pile caps, as well as excavation and soil nailing on the northern cut.
January round-up
Here's a round-up of the month that's been, and the month ahead. During January we carried out the following works:
- Installed piles on the northern side of the bridge
- Installed piles on the southern side of the bridge
- Removed piling equipment from the site
- Installed test soil nails on the northern embankment
- Excavated the northern abutment and embankment
Heading into February we plan to:
- Excavate the bank on the northern side of the bridge
- Install soil nails and mesh on the northern side of the bridge
- Install sheet piling to allow excavation of the southern abutment
- Excavate the abutments on the southern side of the bridge
- Install pile caps on the northern and southern sides of the bridge
- Install bridge beams and panels - currently planned for the week starting 24 February
During the excavation and soil nail installation works, there will be some minor traffic delays, while we are unloading plant and equipment. At these times we will be stopping traffic both ways, but only for 20 minutes or so.
There will also be a couple of full road closures during February while we lift the beams in and install the bridge deck. We will be providing more details on these closures - dates, durations and detours - at a stakeholder meeting next week.
The stakeholder meeting will be held at McManaway's packhouse on Wednesday, 5 February, at 10am.
Saturday works
A heads-up, to keep things moving along, we will be working on the bridge this Saturday (1 February). We won't be closing the road but there will be stop-go traffic management in place, like there is during the week. We might need to work further Saturdays in the lead-up to the beams going in, and we'll keep you updated as we go.
Progress on key construction activities
Last week we made good progress on some key construction activities. Our work focused on both the northern and southern areas of the site, including the installation of temporary sheet piles, excavation and placement of soil nails, and pile breakout.