Kia ora and welcome to the April 2018 update from the Transmission Gully team.
View over Cannons Creek bridge works underway.
Welcome to the April 2018 construction update for the Transmission Gully motorway project.
Great work continues across the entire 27-kilometre route, with a number of milestones set to be achieved by the end of the summer season. We’ll have more on this in our next project newsletter.
Here’s the latest from the team on what’s been happening across the Transmission Gully project in the last month, and what’s coming up.
At the northern end of the project, near Paekākāriki, works continue on the new stretch of Coast Road, which will soon carry existing State Highway 1 (SH1) traffic. By September, traffic will be switched over to this new section of road, and the speed limit will remain at 80km/h south of where it joins the Kapiti Expressway. This traffic switch will allow us to complete construction of the new section of motorway across the existing SH1.
Temporary traffic management remains in place through this area, to provide safe working areas for our construction teams. Please take care, and pay attention to the message boards. There will be further changes to the road layout in July, and we’ll keep you updated on works and what to expect closer to the time.
Paekākāriki road layout changes [PDF, 2.7 MB]
Construction of the bridges in this area is progressing well. We are starting works for Bridge 3, which will cross over Te Puka Stream.
On 19 April, lizards captured before construction works began, along with offspring born at Nga Manu Nature Reserve, were released to their new habitat near Paekākāriki. Kaumatua from Ngati Toa and Te Ati Awa ki Whakarongotai blessed the site and carried out a karakia. We’ll have more about this milestone in our next project newsletter.
One of the lizards released to its new habitat near Paekākāriki.
From Wainui Saddle heading south to Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, some sections of the alignment are at pre-pavement level, with bulk earthworks continuing on the remaining areas. Installation of major culvert headwalls is underway. Headwalls are concrete structures that provide anchoring support for the culvert pipe and improve the flow of water in and out of the culvert to control erosion and scouring.
Construction of the bridge deck for Bridge 6 is now underway, after the recent installation of the concrete beams and wing walls.
Bridge 6 showing beams in place, with works underway on the bridge deck.
Alongside State Highway 58 (SH58), construction of the bridges for the new SH58 Interchange continues.
Bridge 15 RE walls under construction. This bridge will carry Transmission Gully motorway traffic over the Pauatahanui Stream.
Important information for motoristsThere is now a change in the road layout on SH58, where it approaches the Pauatahanui roundabout, from the Hutt Valley. Both lanes are being narrowed and the speed limit will be temporarily reduced to 30km/h. This is to allow safe working space on the southern side for crews working on the SH58 Interchange, where it connects to the new motorway. Please take care when travelling through this area and travel to the temporary speed limits in place. Later this year, traffic will shift from the current SH58 layout to the new permanent road on the southern side of our site offices.
Bulk earthworks and the construction of a number of bridges remains the focus for the teams working in this area.
Looking north over works underway behind Whitby. The start of the Whitby Link Road can be seen in the top left.
Looking north from Belmont Regional Park over bulk earthworks underway.
View looking down on the first of the bridge’s 44 steel girders arriving onsite.
Works continue at pace on the project’s largest structure. Assembly of the launching nose gear is progressing well, and work on the bridge’s massive piers is underway, with reinforcing cages now installed for both piers. In early April, the first of the bridge’s huge steel girders arrived onsite. The 24-metre long, 53-tonne girder arrived by road from Napier, and then driven along the motorway alignment from the southern end. A further 11 girders will arrive in the coming weeks, in preparation for the first launch phase. In total 44 girders will be pre-assembled and launched in four phases across the Cannons Creek gully.
Check out the video below of the bridge’s huge steel girder arriving onsite.
Looking down on Pier one’s reinforcing cage now in place.
Pier two reinforcing cage being installed.
Assembly of the launching nose components continues.
Heading south from the Cannons Creek bridge, much of this area is now built up to pre-pavement level, with paving works set to get underway in this area after the upcoming winter period.
View looking south of the alignment behind Porirua Park in Cannons Creek at pre-pavement level.
At the southern end of the project, construction works for the Kenepuru Interchange bridges continues. Installation of the precast concrete deck panels for Bridge 28, which crosses over the North Island Main Trunk railway line, is well underway.
Columns for Bridge 27 on the southbound side of SH1 are complete, and construction of the abutment embankments is underway.
For the Collins Avenue overbridge (Bridge 26), the road level for the approach to the bridge is being built up. Southbound traffic will move to this new section of bridge in the middle of the year, to allow the middle section of the existing overbridge to be demolished.
Through this area we’re also installing longitudinal drains, which run along the sides of the motorway, and ducts to carry fibre optic cables for the Intelligent Transport System (ITS), along with cabling for streetlights. The ITS measures road usage, and links to the Variable Message Sign (VMS) boards, in the same way as currently happens along the Wellington Urban Motorway.
Much of the drainage and ducting installation work requires lane closures to keep a safe distance between our workers and live traffic, so we need to carry out these works at night. There will be periods of work at night in the southern area, until the traffic switch over in July. Nearby residents may experience some vibration from the back fill compacting and upcoming paving work. If you have any questions or concerns about this work please contact us on 0800 TG INFO or info@tg.co.nz
Bridge deck installation underway for the bridge over the North Island Main Trunk railway line.
Looking south from Bridge 26 where works continue to build the road up to the level of the bridge.
Heavy machinery taking a break from work near Battle Hill Farm Forest Park.
Check out the project’s image gallery to view the latest photos of the motorway from the air and on the ground.
Visit our video library to see animated videos of the interchanges and innovative construction works for the project.
Reuben Mills, Senior Environmental Advisor.
Listen to regular radio interviews with our team to hear more about what they're working on for the project.
In the latest radio interview, Reuben Mills, Senior Environmental Advisor talks about the works to release the lizards that were captured before construction works started, to their new habitat.
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We hope you enjoy reading these updates, and we’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions, comments or story suggestions, you can email them to info@tg.co.nz.
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