Kia ora and welcome to the April/May 2019 update from the Transmission Gully team.
With weather starting to cool off and winter creeping ever closer we have changed our focus from bulk earthworks to structures and the start of finishing works. Over 8.6 million cubic metres of earth has been moved since construction started, with around 2.4 million cubic metres moved in the 2018/2019 summer season and at the end of April 2019 well over 6 million hours of work have been recorded.
Nine of the projects 23 structures are now complete, with work ongoing on a further 14. At the projects largest structure, the bridge over Cannons Creek, construction of the two 60-metre-high columns is now complete. The first pierhead has been completed and the second pier head will be poured in mid-May 2019. Bridge launch Phase Two has been successfully completed and the third launch phase is scheduled for the first week in June 2019.
Check out the latest flythrough video to see how far the project has come.
Here’s what we have been up to and what is coming next.
Bridge 3 at the beginning of the arch installation.
The large mound of sand beside the old route has now been completely removed and the bulk earthworks in the area are almost complete. We’re now working on preparing this section of the new alignment for pavement construction. Construction of Bridge 2 continues with the concrete pouring across the bridge deck complete and the lift and placement of bridge barriers to take place in the near future.
The arches which make up Bridge 3 over Te Puka stream have all been installed. Watch a timelapse video of the installation on Thursday, 21 February 2019.
Launching of the bridge over Cannons Creek is now well underway with the nose assembly almost reaching the second pier. In a dawn ceremony on Thursday 7 April, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira Board Chairman Dr. Taku Parai blessed the structure in recognition of its journey across the gorge, the progress made to date and the difference that the project will make to the region. The blessing, four months after launch testing commenced, signals tangible progress is being made towards the completion of the largest single structure along the 27km Transmission Gully route.
You can read all about the bridge over Cannons Creek here: www.nzta.govt.nz/tg-bridge-20
Watch the timelapse video below of the nose assembly reaching the first pier.
Looking along the superstucture across the valley to where the bridge over Cannons Creek will eventually land.
The blessing ceremony lead by Dr Taku Parai of Ngāti Toa, with the bridge in the background.
Bridge 25 now spans across live State Highway 1. Concrete will be poured on the deck of the bridge later in May.
We achieved a couple of milestones on SH1 at Linden in the past month. The bridge beams for the second stage of Bridge 26, the replacement bridge over Collins Ave, were successfully lifted into place using two cranes simultaneously. These are the bridge beams for Stage 2, with the third stage happening later this year to complete the six-lane bridge. You can see a timelapse video of this unusual lift process below.
That same week, the final beams were lifted into place for Bridge 25, the new northbound flyover to the Transmission Gully motorway. We will now focus on pouring concrete to make the “deck” for Bridge 25 and lifting bridge beams onto the Kenepuru Link overbridge (Bridge 27).
Extensive construction work on SH1 Linden to Porirua will continue for the next few months. Road users travelling overnight through this area should keep alert, drive to the 50km/h posted speed limit, and follow all directional signage.
Thank you for your continued patience while our construction work is underway. Visit our traffic notices page for more information about traffic impacts on SH1 Linden to Porirua: www.nzta.govt.nz/tg-traffic-notices
Our Transmission Gully mobile visitor centre is currently offline while we do some important maintenance work on it. We expect to have it available to visitors again in mid-May, when we will place it in the Coastlands Carpark in Paraparaumu. Make sure you take time to stop by.
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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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Providing regular and timely information about all the work taking place on Transmission Gully is important. Over the next month, we’ll replace our monthly construction update enewsletter with regular weekly construction update articles on our website. In June 2019, you’ll be able to read regular updates at www.tg.co.nz
The Transmission Gully quarterly newsletter will continue to be delivered in its current enewsletter format.
