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Lyttelton Harbour Wastewater Project

Kia ora from the Lyttelton Harbour Wastewater Project team.

This project is part of our commitment to the Whaka-Ora Healthy Harbour Plan to improve water quality in Lyttelton Harbour, for current and future generations to enjoy.

Our team met with Heathcote Valley residents earlier this month to chat about the wider project and share our upcoming work programme for the Heathcote Valley Pipeline. Thank you to everyone who came along.

If you'd like to learn more about the project, we'll be joining the Heathcote Valley Community Association meeting on Wednesday 26 June at the Heathcote Valley Community Centre at 7:30pm and look forward to answering any questions you have.

Thank you all for your patience as we work towards ending the routine discharge of treated wastewater into Lyttelton Harbour.

Heathcote Valley Pipeline

We’re laying the 4.5 kilometre pipeline that will connect Lyttelton Harbour’s wastewater to an existing pump station in Woolston's Alport Place.

At the end of this month we'll tackle another feat of engineering - laying the pipeline under the railway line.

We're going to use a technique called thrusting to get the pipe under the railway, without disturbing the trains. 

We'll dig a pit on either side of the railway line then push a steel casing through the ground, dig out the soil with water and then pull the pipeline through the hole.

The team will be working fast to ensure minimal disruption to residents. 

It's all action on Mauger Drive

We started working on Mauger Drive earlier than expected and have already laid 260 metres of pipeline. We’re opening up the road in 200 metre sections, laying the pipeline, then closing the road up behind us.

Our subcontractors want to share a big thank you for the lovely delivery of fresh muffins they received from residents. We’re doing our best to minimise any disruption this work is causing you, so if you have any concerns, come and have a chat, ring us on 03 941 8999 or send us an email here.

Work to start on Port Hills Road

We've finished potholing along Port Hills Road between Mauger Drive and the shops to locate existing services and plan where we’re going to lay the pipeline. Potholing is the science of digging with water to find what's under the ground, such as existing pipes and cables. 

From the start of July we'll be opening up sections of Port Hills road to lay the pipeline. We’re going to start from the corner of Mauger Drive and work up Port Hills Road to the carpark beside the playground.

We plan to open up the road in 200 metre sections, lay the pipeline, then close the road up behind us and move on. This will minimise disruption to traffic. Traffic management will be in place so you'll know where to go.

Don’t worry if the road looks rough – our teams will be returning the road surface to normal in the next couple of days.

We expect it will take around 3 months to lay this section of pipeline up Port Hills road from the top of Mauger Drive to the Bridle Path.

Port Hills Road shops open for business

Access to the local shops will remain open at all times. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll install signage so everyone knows the shops are still open despite the roadworks. You won't be able to park on the road, but there's parking available onsite at the Maltworks shopping complex. Thanks for your patience as we complete the Heathcote Valley Pipeline.

Map of the Heathcote Valley Pipeline

The Heathcote Valley Pipeline involves installing 4.5 kilometres of underground pipeline from the Heathcote end of the road tunnel along Port Hills Road, Mauger Drive and the Scruttons Road paddocks to the Alport Place pump station in Woolston.

Building the Simeon Quay pump station

We're hard at work in Lyttelton and around the bays, building the new Simeon Quay pump station and converting the Diamond Harbour and Governors Bay treatment plants into pump stations.

At Simeon Quay, excavation for the wet well is complete and we have made the well safe using shotcrete and mesh. We will be installing pre-cast corners into the edges of the excavation and reinforcing steel onto each wall to support the well structure. We expect to start building the well later this month – it is essentially an underground concrete tank.

Over the coming months, this site will transformed into a new pump station, the powerhouse which will pump Lyttelton Harbour’s wastewater through an existing pipeline along Lyttelton Tunnel to connect with the new Heathcote Valley Pipeline.

Diamond Harbour rock protection works

Early demolition works revealed unstable rock hidden directly behind the existing concrete walls. This required rock anchors to be installed to protect construction staff at the site, as well as protecting the station from future damage from falling rocks.

We've completed rock protection and excavation works at Diamond Harbour.

We are excavating into the rock face so this requires use of a rock breaker – we use a digger machine but instead of attaching a bucket onto the arm we use a jack hammer, which causes the rock to fracture.

This month, we will be building the wet well foundations and pump slab foundations which will become a solid base structure for us to construct the pump station on.

Governors Bay and Cashin Quay

We're transforming these two wastewater treatment plants into pump stations to help pump Lyttelton Harbour's wastewater through to the main Christchurch system.

Cashin Quay 

An electrical building has been constructed here and we are now in the process of fabricating a buffer tank on site, which is 15m x 4m of stainless steel and is used to store any back up waste which build ups.

Governors Bay

The Governors Bay pump station is now up and running and discharging waste to the Lyttelton treatment plant as an interim measure until full project completion. Read more on Newsline.

Map of the Lyttelton Harbour Wastewater Project

Once complete, all of Lyttelton’s Harbour’s wastewater will be redirected to the main Christchurch wastewater treatment plant in Bromley. This will help improve the health of our harbour for current and future generations to enjoy. You can find more information about the Lyttelton Harbour Wastewater Project on Council website.

Stay informed

If you know of anyone who would like to receive this e-newsletter please ask them to email their name and residential address or organisation to infrastructurenews@ccc.govt.nz and ask to be added to the Lyttelton Harbour Wastewater project e-newsletter distribution list.

If you have any questions, or would like further information on the project, please call us on 03 941 8999 or visit www.ccc.govt.nz