Hearings Panel makes recommendations for streets around Te Kaha

A Hearings Panel will recommend Christchurch City Council proceed with a raft of changes to the streets surrounding Te Kaha, Canterbury’s Multi-Use Arena so the roads can cope with huge influxes of pedestrians on event days.

The recommendation includes support for a revised version of Lichfield St between Manchester St and the arena. The new version retains  Lichfield St’s current dual-direction state, while a 10km speed limit will ensure the street remains safe for pedestrians. Flexible outdoor dining spaces, and loading and parking allowances have been added.

Vertical construction begins on Te Kaha

The concrete structure of Te Kaha – Canterbury’s Multi-Use Arena – is now emerging vertically from ground, with the first of the concrete columns breaking cover earlier this month.

The first four five-metre-tall columns were boxed and filled with concrete, then left to cure for three days before the formwork boxing was removed.

Te Kaha Project Delivery Chief Executive, David Kennedy, says the work in the south-west corner of the site signals the start of the next phase of the 30,000-seat arena’s construction.

The ground-floor walls are taking shape in the south-west corner of the site. Since these images earlier this month, the formwork has been removed and these walls completed.

Southern stand foundations are complete!

This photo was taken of the Te Kaha site from Tuam St last week. You can see the a number of concrete columns and walls have how been unboxed in the southwest corner of the site.

Foundation work is now completed on the southern stand, and the western stand substructure is also close to completion.

The major concrete pours are now beginning to focus more on the eastern stand (along Barbadoes St). Across the rest of the site, there's an increase in the vertical reinforcing steel for the ground floor concrete columns across the western and southern stands. 

A third crane (white in the picture) arrived on site three weeks ago. This crane will service the initial superstructure works as the vertical construction of Te Kaha gets under way.

You can find a library of weekly site images and regular on-site updates by clicking the link below. 

What to expect over the coming months

The next six months of the Te Kaha project will be mainly focused on progressing the arena's substructure (foundations and underground supports), and starting the superstructure bowl.

Because of the huge size of the project, the different stages will overlap to streamline the process. That means as one phase of work progresses across the site (working from south to north), the next phase will follow closely behind it.

Q2 2023 - Ground improvement works have been completed, structural elements have started rising out of the superstructure from the south-western corner.

Q3 2023 – Substructure concrete pours scheduled to be completed.