New aerial flyover released showing the significant progress on site.
Despite facing two difficult construction seasons since its commencement in 2021, the Takitimu North Link project maintains momentum.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Infrastructure Delivery Manager Waikato / Bay of Plenty Jo Wilton says the team has made great progress and the numbers are impressive.
The project team have driven in 5,600m pile casings, placed 51 pre-cast beams, poured 4,300m3 concrete, erected 1,400T structural steel, and installed 403,000 linear metres of wick drains – which is the equivalent of length of the journey from Tauranga to Palmerston North. 500,000m3 of material has been moved as part of earthworks, and five bridges are in construction. This flight over the 6.8km site, with commentary from Daniel Narayan, Graduate Engineer, shows the progress to date.
The weather has brought many challenges for the team over the past year, only 65 out of 100 working days through the construction season were dry enough for earthworks. This meant the team focused on bridge structures – this shows the unpredictable impact weather has on construction programmes.
There’s a high level of interest in the site from an environmental perspective, with several industry groups visiting site and knowledge sharing through the project’s extensive environmental programme.
Haul roads from State Highway 29 / Takitimu Drive Toll Road to Smiths Farm, and through Wairoa Valley have been built, and the project is now working on linking up these temporary haul roads with the aim to keep haulage trucks off State Highway 2. There are issues to overcome due to the terrain at Minden Gully, and land access at Te Mete Valley.
Looking ahead to the next construction season (September 2023 – April 2024), people can expect to see the completion of bridges at Cambridge and Wairoa roads. Our most challenging site is Cambridge Road where coordination is required between multiple teams working on the bridge structure, utilities, drainage, and earthworks – as well as significant traffic management on this busy local road. We’re working through how we approach this with Tauranga City Council, schools and neighbours in this area.
