Major concrete pours and foundation work completed!
Major concrete pours completed
Another key phase of Te Kaha's construction was wrapped up this week, with the last of the major concrete pours taking place on Monday.
This means the substructure and foundation work for the $683-million multi-use arena is now complete, and work is now focused on the steel and vertical construction.
Monthly video update
Check out the latest video update as Te Kaha Project Delivery CEO, David Kennedy, talks us through the on-site happenings over the past month, including the amount of work that went into the major concrete pours for the foundations.
Faces of Te Kaha:
Marcus Brown
Position: Crane operator for Daniel Smith Industries.
Day to day: I work all over the site, lifting heavy items with the crane. I started in November lifting reinforcing bar for the foundations, but now I'm mostly lifting shutters, which is the formwork for the concrete walls. Once the shutters are installed, the concrete is poured in to form the walls. After the concrete sets, the shutters are pulled off and I lift them to the next section that needs to be formed.
Best part of my job: I work with a good bunch of people, which always helps make any workplace great. It's also very rewarding when buildings come out of the ground and you see real progress on your projects.
Past project: I came to Christchurch after completing the Beaumont Bridge across the Clutha River in Central Otago, where I lifted shutters for concrete pours, and bridge beams with tandem lifts. Before that I worked on building a new mall and carpark in central Invercargill City. It was a big job, but very rewarding.
Outside of work: I try and play a bit of golf if I can. I've also just had my first grandchild, so I try and spend time with her and with family. That's what life is all about, really.
Council approves upgrading Te Kaha’s surrounding streets
Christchurch City Council has approved a suite of work to upgrade the streets around Te Kaha, Canterbury’s Multi-Use Arena, so they’re able to cope with huge influxes of pedestrians and traffic on event days once the arena opens in 2026.
The sweeping changes include a refined option to upgrade Lichfield St West between Manchester and Madras streets, which will see it retain its current dual-direction state, but with a 10km speed limit to ensure it remains safe for pedestrians.
Latest drone images
Below are some new drone images that RCP captured of Te Kaha's construction progress earlier this week.
This first shot shows how much steel has been added to the western stand (along Madras St) since our last update, when we signaled the first of the vertical steel being lifted into place.
The steel construction of the bowl structure has also begun on the southern stand (along Tuam St) over the past couple of weeks, shown below with the white pillars rising from the ground-floor concrete columns.
Below you can see the walls and concrete columns for the eastern stand (along Barbadoes St) continuing to emerge. This area will house amenities, and food and beverage facilities.
This overall capture was taken shortly after Monday's final major concrete pour (the dark grey section along the bottom of the photo).
The foundation perimeter of Te Kaha is now complete, and for the rest of this year - and part of 2024 - work will be largely focused on the vertical steel construction of the bowl.
Weekly site progress photos
If you want to regularly keep track of how the construction of Te Kaha is progressing, we publish weekly site overview images on the News and Announcements page of our website.
There's also a library of all weekly photos in the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page.
What to expect over the coming months
The next six months of the Te Kaha project will see work continue on 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.
Q3 and Q4 2023 – Substructure concrete pours are now completed, and work is now focused on forming the ground walls and pillars, and installing superstructure steel. Contractors will begin installing steel columns and seating tiers in the western stand later in the quarter. Superstructure work on the arena bowl will continue for the remainder of the year.
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