Griffiths Drilling onsite near Melling Station

Ground Investigations Underway

Ground investigations are underway to help us develop the design of the proposed Melling transport improvements and other RiverLink projects. You may notice this work going on if you were in the area near the existing Melling Bridge over the last few weeks.

What is the purpose of the investigations?

The Transport Agency will use the information gathered from these investigations to help develop the preliminary design of the preferred interchange option – a diamond interchange connecting directly with Queens Drive. The preliminary design is being developed as a part of the Detailed Business Case (DBC) for the transport improvements.

The ground information helps us to understand what type of design is needed to construct a resilient bridge and interchange. It’s also important as it will help us ensure that any future  transport improvements are designed to protect the Waiwhetu Aquifer – an important water supply for the whole region.

The DBC is an important phase of the project. The Transport Agency expects to complete and consider the DBC for the Melling transport improvements by early 2020.

Will I be affected by the ground investigation work?

There will be work taking place at six sites spread across both sides of the river, in areas around the Melling and Riverbank car parks. One of these sites will be a borehole which will take around four days to complete. The remaining five sites will be CPTs (Cone Penetrometer Tests) which use a cone-shaped instrument to determine how much load can be put on the ground – will take one day each.

All work will be done between 8am – 5pm, and work areas will be fenced off to keep people safe. Four parking spaces at Melling train station will be temporarily restricted during the borehole work. We do not expect this work to cause any other impact to people using the road or using Melling train station.

Further ground investigations

Investigations will then continue at various sites on both sides of the river, from upstream of Melling Bridge to the Ewen Bridge. This work will inform the design of the new stopbanks, a large retaining wall which will support the promenade, piers and abutments for the pedestrian cycle bridge. We also expect the findings to help us understand how a nearby major fault line could impact our designs and how best to protect the aquifer.

At some locations, there will be limited access to the river and traffic management in place at various times. The map below shows where the work will be done.

Follow the RiverLink Facebook page for regular updates on this work.

Engagement Summary Released

In May and June 2018, the RiverLink team gathered community feedback on three options for a new grade-separated interchange and river bridge at the Melling/SH2 intersection.

Following this, a preferred option was selected using both feedback from the community and input from relevant technical specialists. The preferred option is the diamond interchange connecting directly to Queens Drive. 

Read the engagement summary here

RiverLink Starts its Next Chapter

The RiverLink Project Partners, Hutt City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council with support from NZ Transport Agency, are excited to announce the appointment of Isthmus, Tonkin+Taylor, GHD and Holmes Consulting to take RiverLink through the consenting process.  The team bring to  RiverLink a world-class design, planning and engineering team. 

Isthmus take a design-led approach that deepen the connections between land, people and culture. They will look for win-win outcomes that are best-for-river and best-for-city.

The team believe the key to success of RiverLink lies in close collaboration between the project partners, mana whenua, stakeholders and the local community.

RiverLink will harness the spirit of Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River to shape the future Lower Hutt.

RiverLink is a partnership between Greater Wellington Regional Council, Hutt City Council and the NZ Transport Agency, that will deliver better flood protection, a revitalised city centre and improved transport links for the people of central Lower Hutt.

Activating the Riverbank Beach

RiverLink Summer of Fun

Spaces are what you make of them – this summer we made quite a lot with our active play space around the Riverbank Beach. We wanted to give the community a glimpse of the recreational possibilities once the RiverLink promenade is completed.

Designed to function as a car park during the week, our ‘surprise’ half-court basketball courts in the middle of the car park was a hit. With such a splash of colour, people naturally spent time playing and reconnecting with the Hutt River.

Our RiverLink Summer Programme was all about the possibilities of the future and enjoying the here and now. Connecting the city with the Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River via swathes of geometric blue, it’s almost impossible to resist the lure to the River’s edge.

The natural spaces are equally enticing with logs to jump on and ‘hopping rocks’ too. It’s our shared space and we love it.The kids enjoyed playing with the games in our improved space and the rock painting is always a hit

Sue Faulkner, RiverLink Project Coordinator says: "We had an awesome time down at the Riverbank Beach hanging out with the community. We appreciated all the conversations we had with people stopping by to say hello. My highlight was seeing  the community hanging out at the Riverbank Beach but most of all seeing them connect with the river and that's what RiverLink is all about"

RiverLink Discovery Race

On the 17th March RiverLink and Hutt Valley Orienteering put people through their paces with our very first Discovery Race. It was all about working out where we are now and where we’re headed into the future.

We had eight stations at strategic points and racers could take ‘selfies’ along the way. A great way for people to visualize how things are going to be developed over the next few years and to give orienteering a go too!

Our highlight for the day was when the Peace Runners popped into see us. We were very humbled to have them join us. The motto of the Peace Run is "Peace Begins With Me!" and you can learn more about the Peace Run here

More information

For more information on the RiverLink project visit our website www.riverlink.co.nz or send our team an email at riverlink@gw.govt.nz