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SH58 Safety Improvements Project Update |
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19 December 2025 |
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In this issue
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Welcome to this SH58 Safety Improvement Project updateAs we approach 2025’s end, let's reflect on the achievements since work began on this 2km segment from Moonshine Road to Murphys/Flightys Roads in June. It’s not hard to imagine the current project’s like a ship under full sail – racing ahead well but steady as she goes. There’s a lot of pressure on the teams this side of Christmas but any work completed in 2025 helps to create continuity of work in the New Year - “it’s a good goal to have, and we’re pushing along,” says a site superintendent. From a distance, a vessel looks as if its sailing itself but get onboard, and you’ll discover a dedicated crew. Each section has specialist skills and tasks to fulfil at different places but all are busy doing their bit to contribute to the greater good. We understand that from the perspective of road users, there’s much activity but the shape of the road hasn’t changed that much, except for the Flightys Road intersection. There’s been a massive amount of work this year but most of it has been below the ground surface. In this edition, we’ll dive down and give you a glimpse of what’s going on in some of those sections. As with most jobs, 90 per cent of the eventual success is about preparation. That’s largely where the project team has been focused since work started in June. When you’re disturbing ground, the various complex underground services which provide lifelines of telecommunications, electricity and water, must be carefully worked around.
Much of the area hasn’t been moved for decades and information about what’s underneath can be challenging to find. Anytime subsoil is cut on a live highway, workers have to become amateur archaeologists. It’s a given that they’ll stumble across both existing and unknown services – especially if that ground hasn’t been disturbed for decades. This is serious, complex, and time-consuming work. Apart from the known Chorus, Spark, and Wellington Electricity cables, workers on the SH58 site have found unknown and unmarked services that cross the highway. It’s possible some are old water feeds to and from, the former military camp. Finding these old concrete pipes running parallel makes teams literally stop in their tracks. When this happens, the unknown services must be investigated, scanned, to get a ‘positive id’. This means digging or using air and water vacuuming to carefully uncover the extent of the old features. Then decisions must be made about the find, and how it will affect installation of new infrastructure. Threading an undergound needle Putting new ducts into historically built-on land is like trying to thread a needle. Even a simple task, such as putting a couple of ducts in an old space where ‘live’ fibre communication cables and water mains are – is basically working through a potential minefield. It’s extremely risky work. Workers well know that if one of those pipes or cables is hit, the surrounding and downstream residents and business would lose connections instantly. Even though all known information is gathered ahead of time, until digging starts, we don’t know what’s underneath. One of the first tasks is ‘potholing’; a construction method used to investigate and locate underground utilities by digging small test holes, ensuring they’re not damaged during excavation. This process uses non-destructive techniques such as vacuum excavation to safely expose buried lines such as gas, water, and electrical cables. By confirming the precise horizontal and vertical position of utilities, potholing prevents accidents, saves time and money, and ensures construction projects can proceed smoothly and safely. Even when potholing is done every 10m, workers find that services often change direction to bypass things, such as old tree stumps. One worker says, “everyone thinks people would have built straight back in day, but they didn't. We’ve found services that aren’t live but are very old, so they’re not picked up on scans. And, if they’re not on any drawings, how do you know they’re there?” The SH58 project’s work will help future-proof important infrastructure information in this area. Once discovered, any new element found is identified and recorded. Downer contacts the relevant service provider to the site to investigate for themselves. They’ll decide whether what’s found is redundant, or working but an unrecorded, piece of their network. Buried assets slow the ship The unintended consequence from these discoveries is that once workers find something unexpected, work must stop and teams have to wait for answers before progressing. This ‘stop-start-stop-start’ eats into much productive time but it can’t be done any other way. The eight work sub-sites across the project are reporting unknown finds all the time. One staffer said, “some days are really good where nothing unknown is found, and then sometimes you hit a nightmare patch. We realise this state highway is a spine – with bulk water mains and fibre cable crossing underneath. These are critically important services which affect not only Judgeford but populations all the way to Porirua.” Here the bulk water main is the line from Kaitoke to Porirua City – all that water literally comes across SH58. Anywhere the project teams are working within one metre of the bulk water main, a dedicated person must be a hawk-eyed ‘stand-over’ because the work is such a massive risk to so many people. |
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Line of pipes for the pipe lineA rare chance to see the specially-created concrete pipes above ground for the twin culverts at the Moonshine site. |
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Facts and figures - 2025 milestonesMoonshine Roundabout
Moonshine to Flightys
• 8 x driven H Piles, formwork and footing pours for substructure concrete elements
Major milestones reached this year
What’s happening on the project now through to end of year |
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Say hello to Nathan – Moonshine Site SupervisorWe asked Nathan to share his insights on a day in the life of being a site supervisor on the project.
How long have you been doing this work? There’s a lot of problem-solving on the fly, like making sure concrete gets poured before the weather turns and dealing with any equipment problems and environmental controls.
By the end of the day, I’ve walked around 12,000 steps on the site, answered 100 questions and made 20 phone calls by mid-morning.
My role is to make sure the work on the ground happens safely, efficiently, and to a high standard. I’m the link between the project managers and the crews doing the mahi. It’s about setting the pace, maintaining quality, and creating a work environment where everyone can do their best. The first step is getting experience on site to learn the ropes. Like any career – be the one who turns up on time with a good attitude, be curious and ask questions to show you’re keen. From there, you can move into leading small teams, and before you know it, you’re running sections of a job.
There are lots of opportunities if you’re willing to learn. You don’t need a fancy degree – but equally most workplaces will support you to gain necessary qualifications and grow your career. Whether it’s construction or another industry, people who can make things happen on the ground and bring others with them are always in demand.
Easy – it’s the people. Seeing a team work well together and finish a job we can all be proud of – that’s what it’s all about. Every day brings challenges, but that’s where the fun is, and the wins make it worth it.
• Respect is huge, it goes both ways. The project managers would rely on you to get the massive amount of mahi done – right first time – it’s a big responsibility, right?
Yes, there’s a lot riding on getting it right. But it’s not a one-man show. It’s all about the team – each person playing their part. My job is to keep that machine ticking along smoothly. |
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Why are there so many road cones?
Sometimes we get comments about the amount of road cones we need to use.
The traffic management on SH58 Safety Improvement Project’s Moonshine to Flightys Road phase, is set up in accordance with NZTA’s New Zealand Guide To Traffic Management. This protocol takes a risk-based approach to each site. |
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Holiday break datesThe project site will be shutting down for the holiday break from Tuesday 23 December to Monday 12 January. The site will be made safe and will be monitored throughout the break. Downer has contingency plans in place, should any unexpected events occur. If you need to contact the project team during this time, see information below. |
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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: Calls are handled by our national call centre and is staffed 24/7 – every day of the year. |
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