SH58 Safety Improvements Project Update

23 February 2026

 In this issue

• Things are taking shape
   
• Drainage - a production of precision
   
• Meet Eri - our project's Quantity Surveyor
   
• Facts and figures - a snapshot
   
• Wild weather and what's been happening
   
• Project contact information

Things are taking shape

If you’re driving along the project site now, you’ll be rewarded with an early look at how Flightys Roundabout is shaping up – quite literally.

This month the two concrete rings defining the outline of the roundabout were poured in near-perfect conditions.  Visually, this is a milestone in the project and demonstrates clearly how large the roundabout is.

At the Moonshine site, a lot of kerbing has been completed.  People won’t see concrete circles poured here until work on the culverts' layout and crossing underneath Moonshine Road has been completed in a few weeks’ time.

Stantec engineers check the base is level before the second ring of concrete is poured.

Drainage – a production of precision

Over the last few months, much work centred around drainage, stormwater pipe installation, and preparing new cabling and ducting pathways along the route.

Drainage work is a long and exacting process - it’s not as easy as just digging a straight line and plonking pipes into the ground.  Specialist drainage crews are creating a ‘production of precision’.

The drainage system takes water off the roundabouts and road, and diverts it underneath.  The project’s drainage infrastructure is brand new and is replacing a much older and smaller pipe network.

The pipes being placed range from specially-made 1.5m concrete pipes through to PVC 300-375mm sizes.

Overall, it’s a significant upgrade and will cope with far larger volumes of water within the area between Moonshine and Murphys/Flightys Roads.

Giving water a way

Where does all this surface water go?
 
Stormwater matters are a big deal for the area.  At both roundabouts, there have been  literally tonnes of earth removed to create channels and flow paths for the new culverts.  Some channels follow the existing road edge, but the big changes see a complex pipe network built under the highway.

The above surface landscape is just as important.  

Swales (open drains) are often forgotten heroes of the overall stormwater treatment system.  These grass-lined channels are used to collect and treat stormwater runoff across grass or similar ground cover and through soil.

In the project, some swales will catch water from sumps and sump leads connected to the kerb and channel system.

Surface water eventually heads into the Pāuatahanui Stream and the project’s environmental impact was factored in during the planning stages.

The project’s design criteria prescribes that any road surface water must be treated before it reaches the stream. This is where the grass-lined swales helps to treat water as it flows through vegetation before being released into the stream.

Another step in filtering process of road water will be two structures near each roundabout.

Specially made ‘gross pollutant traps’ are essentially large manholes with cisterns, which are designed to remove sediments from road-captured water before being released into the stream.

Drainage work will continue for the next few months.

Bedding in the twin culverts at the Moonshine site.

Taking account - the project's 'go to' for money matters

When you’re spending taxpayer money, every cent has to be accounted for – and that’s a task that Eri deals with – he’s the project’s money man!

Eri’s title is Quantity Surveyor but his work is far from sitting at a screen all day.

Mostly he’s outside, boots and hi-viz on, dealing with a fascinating array of challenges that people need sorting out quick-smart.  He’s the ‘go to guy’ for everyone to ensure costs are kept within budget.

Financial matters affect everyone at all levels on the project, and this sees Eri talking with all sorts of people including, project managers, sub-contractors, labourers, suppliers, and anyone who needs financial administration.

“You have to be good at dealing with difficult situations – you need to be someone who’s versatile and can manage things, with often a lot of pressure from all corners,” he explains.

“If there’s anything starting to happen that’s outside the project’s scope, it’s my job to point out this out.  I’m constantly monitoring so we stay within the confines of the contract.”

Who ya gonna call?

People know to proactively seek out Eri when they see something brewing.

In his frequent talks with supervisors, Eri ensures targets are being met, or to see what’s causing any problems, the effects of any delays, and the potential impacts with extra costs and quantities.

He has incredible attention to detail – “you’ve got to be because every small change has an effect.   Something might start as a minor thing but it can grow bigger. If you don’t take care of the small stuff, they can blow up to be much bigger things.

“For me, the final completion certificate is always in mind.  I’m involved in the bid, project delivery and then when all the building is done, I’m still working on closing out the final accounts.

"Every supplier and sub-contractor needs to be paid and our wider obligations met.  There are also the independent safety audits and quality assurances which need to be completed.”

Eri was educated in Harere, Zimbawbe, and has since worked in Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, before moving to New Zealand three years ago.  In Botswana, one of his friends was a diplomat and talked about New Zealand, and that’s where Eri became interested in our country.

Eri’s son, Tyrese, also works on the project as a cadet civil engineer, specialising in civils.

Eri says, “construction has been our life, and he’s followed suit. We're both passionate about the industry.”

Compared to other jobs he’s had, SH58 is quite complex, and the major factor is working with a tight corridor with 20,000 vehicles travelling through the sites every day.

“We need to structure and manage the workflow so that we always have something to do, even while traffic is going by. To minimise impacts on road users, work doesn’t occur on the roadside at peak morning and afternoon flow times.”

A practical profession

Quantity surveying is a practical profession.  Gone are the days where he measured everything with a tape measure.   He now uses a programme called Propellor, which measures from office but he still needs to be physically on-site to see what’s happening to calculate, quantify and take care of issues precisely.

He’s the quiet person who holds a lot together.  If he stopped doing his job well, the project would suffer immediately. 

With the weight of the project on his shoulders, the stress is countered with satisfaction of seeing a plan become a reality.

“Quantity surveying is a broad field.  You have to be passionate because there’s a lot of hard work, extra hours, and study. It’s always evolving with new things, so it requires continuous improvement as a person.

“Of course, you have to be strong in technical aspects but you also need creativity and imagination to visualise something - to build and complete in your mind before it’s on the ground.  It’s an art as much as it is a science.”

Tyrese (left) and Eri both work at the SH58 Project.

Facts and figures - a snapshot

What’s been achieved since we started back this year

• Moonshine Roundabout

o Continued drainage installation in off-line portion
o Kerb and channel works started
o Kerbs for islands on east approach complete
o Concrete buffer between road and footpath poured on east approach
o Basecourse material placed
o Commenced 1500mm diameter twin culverts in November
o Road switched to run through new road metal, release service diversion works, and re-commencement of twin culverts

• Moonshine Roundabout - upcoming works

o Continue with twin culvert
o Ducting
o Kerbing and islands
o Switch road back to normal Moonshine position, in order to complete culvert
o Basecourse preparation and sealing
o Asphalt works
o Staged livening of roundabout to complete smaller sections of works

Road section between Moonshine and Flightys - structures complete in period
o wall
 Tree clearance complete

o Judgeford Golf Course

 Temporary works for coffer dams in place
 All piling complete
 Footing pour on east abutment complete
 Wall anchoring complete at bridge location
 Design amendment to drainage line to facilitate bridge construction. Additional manhole installed.

• Moonshine to Flightys structures - upcoming works

o Judgeford Golf Course

 Complete substructure concrete works
 Install waler beams on retaining wall anchors
 Remove cofferdams
 Install temporary barriers across bridge to protect edge
 Remove existing barrier
 Install precast deck unit on golf course underpass
 Commence temporary works for bridge deck construction

o Bridge location

 Remove cofferdam
 Install temporary barriers across bridge to protect edge
 Remove existing barrier
 Commence temporary works for bridge deck construction

o Wall location
 Piling works
 Wall construction

• Moonshine to Flightys – civil construction completed in period
o Drainage line, bridge  to Mulhern 90% complete
o Asphalt deep lift between Golf Course and Mulhern complete
 Shoulder backfills started north side

o Retaining Wall - 50% complete
 Tree stump and root removal complete
 Lower layer of blocks complete
 Working around services currently to install geogrid layers

o Stream protection works
 Diversion complete
 Defishing in progress

• Moonshine to Flightys – civil construction upcoming

o Finish headwall on 750mm diametre pipeline
o Swale near Mulhern Road to connect to new drainage line
o Shoulder preparation at Golf Course
o Continue drainage from Golf Course across SH58

• Flightys Roundabout - complete in period

o Continued drainage installation in off-line portion
o Kerb and channel works commenced
o Kerbs for islands on east approach complete
o Kerbs on roundabout ring installed
o Concrete buffer between road and footpath poured on east approach
o Basecourse material placed

• Flightys Roundabout - upcoming

o Pavement construction
o Continued kerbing
o Footpath works
o Deep lift asphalt
o Livening of roundabout for second stage works

Wild weather leaves its mess

No where in the Wellington area escaped the wild weather recently, and the works along the SH58 project were also drenched and battered with wind and rain.

The highway was closed due to flooding and many lost power, including our own site office which lost electricity for two days.

Our works stood up well to the storm but there were significant clean up jobs to do as a result.  These included clearing sediment, scouring, fallen trees and vegetation, and anything else that needed putting back in its right place.

There was damage to materials, site fences, form work and there will be remedial work needed on some of the construction items that are in progress.  Overall, the project fared well and there’ll be a lot of checking following the storm to ensure everything is okay.

Aerial photo of Moonshine roundabout taken after the recent storm event.

Want to connect with the project team?

If you have any questions about the project work, email:

sh58safety@nzta.govt.nz;

and keep a watch on the SH58 Project webpage:
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh58-safety-improvements 

Just a note, if you ever need to report an emergency, incident or have an immediate concern about any highway in New Zealand, call the freephone 0800 4 HIGHWAYS or 0800 44 44 49.

Calls are handled by our national call centre and is staffed 24/7 – every day of the year.