Kia ora and welcome to the November 2017 update from the Transmission Gully team.
Green fingered residents of the local community turned out in support of a community planting day held on Sunday 29 October at Lanes Flat, Pauatahanui.
More than 50 local residents, community group members and councillors donned their gloves alongside project staff and planted 1,000 native trees and shrubs along the banks of the Pauatahanui Stream.
Darren Utting, Environmental and Stakeholder Manager says this was a significant milestone for the project. “The community planting day marked the start of our planting works, which will see more than 27 kilometres of streams along the new motorway enriched with native vegetation to create a better habitat for native wildlife. In addition, the creation of new wetland areas means that ecological values will be maintained, if not enhanced, in the long term.
“In less than 10 years after the new ecological areas are fully established, the water quality and surrounding environment will be in a better state than before the motorway was built”, he says.
The plants will also help to create a natural buffer for a new community walkway along the Pauatahanui Stream, which will be opened towards the end of the project.
“We had people of all ages getting their hands dirty planting the trees, with children having fun discovering the many worms and cicadas hiding amongst the dirt, and in a short period of time they had completely transformed that area of the Pauatahanui Stream.
“They may not realise it now, but in 10, 20 or 30 years, many of the children will be able to say ‘I planted that!’” says Darren.
After a site blessing by Ngāti Toa Kaumatua, Taku Parai, and a demonstration on planting from the project’s landscapers, the volunteers set to the task at hand of planting a selection of natives including species of manuka, coprosma, and kowhai.
Wellington Gateway Partnership CEO Sergio Mejia says a big part of the project is about achieving good long-term environmental outcomes. “We’re focused on ensuring the construction footprint is minimised and then offset by a number of environmental improvements that will see the water quality of local streams and waterways improve over time.
“Around two million native trees and shrubs will be planted on the valleys and slopes surrounding the motorway, including seedlings of giants like tōtara, matai and rimu. This will create one of the most significant lowland native bush areas in the Wellington region and reduce erosion and sediment entering streams and – ultimately – the Pauatahanui Inlet and Onopoto Arm of the Porirua Harbour.
“I would like to thank the community surrounding our works for all of their ongoing support. We’re here for the long haul, and are committed to being good neighbours in all that we do.”
Sergio says that the Transmission Gully motorway will be the first motorway constructed in New Zealand to achieve GreenroadsTM (external link) silver certification – an international sustainability rating system for road design and construction.
Greater Wellington Regional Councillor, Barbara Donaldson said it was a fun day out. “It was great to see so many of the community taking part in the planting day focused on protecting the environment, and demonstrated how much we can achieve by working together.”
“I must confess Porirua City Councillor, Ross Leggett, did all the digging and I had the easier job of planting, but it was good teamwork between Porirua City and Greater Wellington Regional Councils!”
The CPB HEB JV project team treated volunteers to a free sausage sizzle and coffee afterwards, to say thanks for a job well done.
As part of our ongoing planting works in this area, over the summer, willow trees and weed species currently planted along the banks of the Pauatahanui Stream will be removed, and replaced next winter with native trees and shrubs, which will enhance the habitat for fish and other wildlife, and maintain the stability of the stream banks.
Heavy machinery hard at work on a section of the new motorway near Battle Hill Farm Forest Park.
CPB HEB Joint Venture’s Project Director Boyd Knights
Great progress over winter despite stormy weather is keeping the Transmission Gully motorway on track for opening in 2020, with summer works now well underway along the entire 27 kilometres of the route.
CPB HEB JV Project Director Boyd Knights says some sites were closed in winter, either for safety reasons or where an area of earth and rock provided poor-quality material when wet. This was planned for early in the year and even so about 400,000 cubic metres of earthworks was moved in these colder months.
Boyd says recent news media reports suggesting that earthworks had been underestimated by 50 percent are incorrect. Volumes consented at the time of the June 2012 Board of Inquiry decision were six million cubic metres. In 2013, the successful tender from Wellington Gateway Partnership proposed 8.4 million cubic metres, based on a more detailed construction design. Consents are now complete for an extra three million cubic metres, covering the additional 2.4 million under the tender and 600,000 cubic metres for contingencies.
Wellington Gateway Partership CEO Sergio Mejia
Wellington Gateway Partnership CEO Sergio Mejia says it is not unusual for volume increases of this scale once detailed construction designs and specifications are finalised for projects of this size and common also for contractors to seek extra consents to account for such changes.
After two years of physical works, Boyd says there have been few real surprises on the project, with the area’s complex geology allowed for in the original tendering process. Good quality rock material, available in only some parts of the route, is needed to meet specifications for what will be one of the safest and most resilient motorways ever built in this country. “Let’s remember, it is being constructed to withstand an estimated one-in-a-thousand year earthquake event without damage, and, in a one-in-2500-year event, we’ll be able to repair the damage.”
Boyd says while it is the largest earth volume to be moved on a New Zealand roading project, the need to find quality material to meet resilience requirements was always allowed for by the joint venture and is why their tender volume was higher than the original consents. Rock and earth not suitable for some areas is used elsewhere on the project in a number of ways, such as for foundations, fill, landscaping, and mechanically stabilised earth walls.
“Every area of earthworks also has strict environmental controls in place. Minor sediment run-off can occur during heavy rain, but nothing close to that of previous large developments that silted parts of the Pauatahanui Inlet. The range of environmental controls for the project is unprecedented in New Zealand. This will mean that the effects of construction on local waterways will be minimised and then offset by a number of environmental improvements that will see the Porirua harbour water quality improve over time”, says Boyd.
Among the most important devices to prevent dirty water run-off along the route are rectangular sediment-retention ponds, or ‘SRPs’, developed in this form in the Auckland region and improved by the project team to suit local conditions.
The project’s ecologists and erosion and sediment control experts ensure procedures are in place to control and monitor sediment run-off. They work with the construction teams to determine how earthworks will be staged to manage the environmental effects on the Pauatahanui Inlet and the Onepoto Arm of the Porirua Harbour. They also work closely with the Greater Wellington Regional Council, who independently audit the project’s sediment-retention systems on a regular basis.
Just one of the more than 100 sediment retention ponds used to settle out sediment from dirty water run-off along the route.
Nigel Corry, General Manager, Environment Group, Greater Wellington Regional Council, says successfully undertaking such a huge volume of earthworks over the winter months is “very impressive”.
“Everyone is looking forward to a really big summer of successful earthworks also.” The Council has a “strong working relationship” with the joint venture, he says, including on-site management of environmental controls. “I am confident that over the summer these controls will continue to be fit for purpose and be effective.”
Aerial image showing a section of the alignment near Battle Hill Farm Forest Park heading north towards the Wainui Saddle.
With summer officially about to kick off, the team have all machines working hard across the 27 kilometre alignment. With more than four million cubic metres of earth to be moved over the summer months, that’s equivalent to nearly four Westpac Stadiums worth of earth.
Here’s an update from the project team on what’s been happening over the last month, and what to expect over the coming summer season.
View over works in the north at Paekakariki heading up the Wainui Saddle.
At the northern end of the project, the first stage of sand preloading to stabilise the weaker wetland soil is now complete. Once stablised, construction of the new motorway will get underway.
Excavation works to remove liquefaction prone material from the foundation of the new bridge that will cross over the the local road for residents to access Paekakariki is nearly complete and construction teams are now underway with back filling with more suitable fill.
The relocation of services in the area, including water, electricity, and fibre optic cables is progressing well and is set to be complete by the end of December.
Bulk earthworks continue in the Wainui Saddle 24 hours a day, focused on big crestal earth cuts, with soil nailing and shotcrete techniques being used to stabilise the earth slopes.
The final section of the temporary Te Puka Stream diversion is now underway in the lower part of the Te Puka valley, with 200 metres of the new permanent stream course now complete. For the Horokiri Stream, 500 metres of the new permanent stream course is complete and the first trial livening through this section has been successfully carried out by the team.
Works to build the new boulder field habitat for the lizards that were temporarily rehomed in the Nga Manu Nature Reserve remain a focus for our environmental team. We’re delighted to share the latest news from Nga Manu Nature Reserve, it appears the lizards have enjoyed their holiday there so much, that the adults will also be accompanied by their offspring to the new habitat once built.
Large boulders, which are being used for the Horokiri Stream and Te Puka Stream permanent diversion works.
A section of the alignment in the Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, which is now built up to sub grade level.
Just north of the public underpass in the park, bulk earthworks continue. The new motorway is starting to take shape in this area with some sections now built up to subgrade level, which is the final earthworks level before building the road pavement. If you’re visiting the area, you can view works underway from the top of the walkway that brings you down to the public underpass in the park.
South of Battle Hill Farm Forest Park, we’re now in the final stages of connecting the access track between our site offices on Paekakariki Hill Road and State Highway 58. This is the final section of access track through what has been a challenging area, with a number of streams and gullies needing culverts installed before the track could be created through this area.
Near Paekakariki Hill Road, we’re currently relocating the main Wellington gas pipelines. A process called gas flaring took place recently, just beside the site compound. This involved our gas contractors installing a temporary chimney and excess gas was burned off from the pipelines so they can be worked on safely.
At Lanes Flat, we’re currently relocating the electricity from overhead lines to underground lines along the side of State Highway 58. To keep our workers and the travelling public safe, there will be a lane closure in place at night on State Highway 58. If you’re travelling in the area, please take extra care and follow all temporary traffic signs. We thank you for your patience.
Ground improvement works are now complete for all four of the bridges that make up the State Highway 58 interchange and we’re now building up the bridge abutments with reinforced earth walls. If you’re driving through the area, you can now see the first stages of the interlocking textured concrete walls just beside the site offices at Lanes Flat.
From Lanes Flat south all the way to the hills above Cannons Creek, bulk earthworks remain the focus for the team and will continue throughout the summer season.
Work to relocate the Wellington trunk supply water main just south of Lanes Flat is progressing well, as are additional gas pipeline relocations. The utilities relocations are an often overlooked, but a vital part of the construction programme and extensive planning by the team ensures all services stay in operation while construction continues.
Construction works have now started for the bridge that will cross over Duck Creek, and works continue at the site of the Cannons Creek bridge, with the excavation for one of the two piers now complete along with the concrete pours for both of the bridge abutments.
Earthworks are well advanced on a section of the alignment behind Cannons Creek.
Ground works are now complete for the bridges that make up the SH58 Interchange near Lanes Flat, Pauatahanui.
At the southern end of the project, construction of the bridges over State Highway 1 is progressing well, with the columns now complete on each side of the motorway for the bridge that will form the northbound ramp over State Highway 1 onto the new motorway.
Once the current median widening works are complete on State Highway 1, north and southbound traffic will be moved towards the shoulders to allow room for construction works to start on the central pier for the bridge. Construction of the reinforced stabilised earth embankment for this bridge abutment is underway at the top of Mexted Terrace.
Stage 1 piling work for the Kenepuru Interchange is complete and the substructure for the bridge over the North Island Main Trunk railway line is on track for completion before Christmas. Once complete, during the week between Christmas and the New Year we’ll install the steel bridge girders to coincide with KiwiRail’s annual track maintenance closure and avoid any additional disruption to travellers.
Work on the Collins Avenue bridge is on track, and following the installation of steel girders last month, the deck structure for the first section is now complete, with concrete pouring set to get underway soon. Works on the mechanically stabilised earth walls for this bridge are well underway and set to be complete in December.
Columns taking shape for one of the bridges that will make up the Kenepuru Interchange.
View looking north east over works underway near Linden/Tawa.
With the summer season of earthworks underway, dust from the site is a common concern for us and our neighbours. There are a number of activities we carry out to manage dust. These include:
We monitor our activities which means we:
We encourage you to contact us at any time on 0800 84 4636 (0800 TG INFO), or email us at info@tg.co.nz if you have any concerns or queries about dust. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Water carts keep construction areas damp to minimise the opportunity for dust to form.
New starters Truth Purcell and Charné Janse van Rensburg are both loving the work on the Transmission Gully motorway project.
An innovation by CPB HEB Joint Venture to employ young local jobseekers on the Transmission Gully motorway project is proving a great success.
17 recruits, mostly from the Porirua area, have joined the project so far via the scheme, run in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the Infrastructure Industry Training Organisation, Connexis. Before arriving on site, each worker completes a two-week-long ‘Transition to Work’ programme run by Connexis at Waiouru Military Camp which focuses on life skills, compliance and technical training, while working towards a Level 2 NZ Certificate in Infrastructure Works. Two such courses have been completed this year.
Connexis Civil Industry Manager Robbie Paul says the programme has been running since 2011 – the difference in the Transmission Gully project initiative is the collaboration with MSD to locate potential candidates for the programme.
“It is a really positive initiative and great to see more young local people getting a chance to learn some important skills on a local project,” Mr Paul says.
“A key factor in the project’s success is that everyone has bought into it and is enthusiastic about it. We have the full support of management in the selection and in mentoring onsite.”
Truth Purcell, who joined the first course in May and is now part of the environment team based at the Transmission Gully project’s Lanes Flat site office, says it is an ‘awesome’ opportunity.
A former student of Mana College, Truth praises the project for its on-the-job training and close teamwork. “I had no experience at all when I came in, and now there are so many different and exciting career options open to me.”
Kāpiti local, Charné Janse van Rensburg, from the second course, says she is ‘loving the job’ as a labourer and hopes eventually to operate large machinery or become a foreman. Truth and Charné are commended by supervisors for their work and commitment – both have got used to early starts and long hours, regularly arriving by 6.15am and often extending into weekends. Says Charné, “They even put on a barbecue sometimes on Sunday if we’re needed here.”
CPB HEB JV’s Human Resources Manager Trent Sherman, a Porirua boy who attended Papakowhai School and St Patrick’s College, says there were no big infrastructure projects in the area during his youth and widespread unemployment.
He’s worked for CPB in Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, returning home for the motorway venture, which he calls ‘a landmark project – something I wanted to be a part of’.
“I knew we were losing a lot of young people to Australia, some to become highly-skilled construction workers. We needed to set up employment structures here to give local youth a good reason to stay,” Trent says.
“Community agencies trying to help unskilled jobseekers are pleasantly surprised at results from the Transmission Gully/Connexis/MSD recruitment scheme and compliments have come also from the construction industry. Other firms are likely to try something similar.”
CPB HEB JV Project Director Boyd Knights says a vital aspect of the training is that young people form a team in the intense learning environment of Waiouru.
“Making friends and creating your own support network is very important if you haven’t been in full-time work,” Boyd says.
“There is no limit to how many more we might take on under the jobseeker scheme although the project always has to strike the right balance between experienced and inexperienced workers.”
Visit our Employment opportunities page to find out more about current jobs available on the project.
The nine young men who graduated in May, and continue to work on the project.
The Transmission Gully motorway mobile visitor centre on site at Paekakariki.
With construction works well underway in the northern section of the Transmission Gully motorway, CPB HEB Joint Venture Construction Project Director Boyd Knights says the timing is right for the project’s mobile visitor centre to take up residence at Paekakariki.
“The visitor centre provides a really interesting insight into this exciting project. It’s a great way for the local community and those interested in Transmission Gully to engage, see the incredible engineering feats being achieved and keep up to date with the project’s latest developments,” says Boyd.
Housed in a 20 foot container, the visitor centre includes an interactive fly-through, maps of the new motorway and its interchanges, photos of construction progress, and a series of information panels about the project.
Located next to Coffee@Ians beside State Highway 1, Paekakariki, the visitor centre is hard to miss, with its brightly coloured exterior mural, courtesy of Porirua artist, Antz June. Open to the public Monday to Friday between 7.00am and 4.00pm, the centre will remain on site at Paekakariki until January 2018, before moving to the Wellington waterfront.
The community is a big part of our project. With 27 kilometres to cover, we’re committed to keeping our neighbours updated, and we’re always out and about talking to people about what we’re doing in their area.
It’s been a busy few months for the community team, who’ve been working with the wider project team to update the local community on progress, attending community meetings and events and giving presentations to a number of groups.
We also make sure our neighbours are the first to know about works that will impact on them and talk about how we can help minimise the effects of our work.
At the start of November, the community team and senior members of CPB HEB JV’s project team attended the Pautahanui Lamb and Calf Day, and spent time talking to neighbours about the work we’re doing.
Be sure to check out the working with the community section of our website to keep updated on local works. We’ll also post future events to this page, so you can come along and meet some of the team.
The community team attended Pauatahanui School's Lamb and Calf Day, held on Saturday 4 November.
CPB HEB JV Earthworks Manager, David Long talks to a member of the community about the project’s interchanges.
Rod Ladyman, CPB HEB JV SH&Q Manager being interviewed by Corran Crispe from Beach FM.
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, Rod Ladyman, CPB HEB JV SH&Q Manager talks about the Health and Safety and Quality measures in place for the project.
Don’t forget to tell your friends and family to signup(external link) to receive the latest project news.
You can also visit our video and gallery pages showing construction progress and regular construction updates.
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.
