28 September 2023

Kia ora koutou katoa! | Greetings, hello to you all!

Nau mai, haere mai | Welcome to the Hepetema | September edition of the O Mahurangi - Penlink newsletter. 

In this issue, you'll notice our article titles are in te reo Māori first, followed by their English translations. By placing te reo first, we're aiming to promote and celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori | Māori Language Week this month.

Two cranes were delivered to the Stillwater construction site, including a 120-tonne crawler crane (bottom left photo).

Ngā Whakahoutanga Hanganga o te Hepetema | September Construction Updates

This month we have been continuing works preparing to transition into the main construction phase of the project which is now getting underway. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

State Highway 1

• Installed temporary roadside steel safety barriers on northbound and southbound State Highway 1 under night closures
• Installed project signs

East Coast Road

• Relocated existing underground services on East Coast Road
• Constructed two new sediment retention ponds (named Pinch and Penny) and associated environmental controls
• Constructed a new site exit onto East Coast Road
• Kaitiaki harvested harakeke and toetoe at our East Coast Road site. The taonga species harvested will be repurposed by Mana Whenua as well as divert green waste from landfill.

Ara Wēiti Road to Stillwater

• Earthworks to build erosion and sediment controls and access tracks. As part of this, some permanent cut and placement of fill has occurred in localised areas.
• Continued construction of the new main project office for all staff

Stillwater

• Additional machinery delivered to site as pictured above, including a 120 tonne crawler to construct a work platform
• Temporary staging: continuing prep work to install steel pile casings into the ground. To install, we will first auger (drill) a hole and then vibrate the casing into the ground. Next, we will use a large, specialized hammer fitted to the crane to hammer the pile to the required depth. View a visualisation of this work here.

Whangaparāoa

• Commenced ecological investigations to allow tree clearing
• Continued tree clearing along the main alignment (Whangaparāoa Road to the Wēiti River)
• Night works were carried out to locate existing underground services

Check out more progress photos on our website’s photo gallery.

A few of the earthworks machines used on site.

Ka Tīmata Te Kaupeka Tūkari Whenua Ā Tēnei Marama | Earthworks Season Begins Next Month

October is a milestone for the project with the start of main construction works. Earthworks Season 2 will run from 1 October 2023 through to 30 April 2024. Earthworks happen during these months because it is the dry season.

During Season 2, we are aiming to move 400,000 cubic metres total across three different zones (illustrated in the indicative map below).

Earthworks Season 2 includes:

• 95,000 cubic metres of cut to fill in Zone 1 – Mainly focused around the Link Road 1 (Bridge 3 area) and East Coast Road area
• 265,000 cubic metres cut to fill in Zone 2 – Across two work areas east of Ara Wēiti Road and around the Duck Creek Road area
• 40,000 cubic metres of cut to fill in Zone 3 – This is all from Cut 20 (located on the eastern side of the Wēiti River where Bridge 6 ties in) and assists the structures team in getting access to the Wēiti River Bridge eastern abutment

Earthworks will happen across the project area as we make the most of the dry season. It will be a challenge with steep country, narrow access tracks, and poor ground conditions. The health and safety of the team will remain our top priority throughout this season.

The team will be using 31 different machines throughout the season, including:

• excavators
• bulldozers
• trucks
• bully and scoops
• compactors

The Earthworks Team will be working hard during Season 2 - read more about the team and their project roles later in this newsletter.

Hybrid machines on site.

Te Hanga Anamata Kākāriki Ake | Building a Greener Tomorrow

We recently published our Toitūtanga | Sustainability webpage. It provides information on how we are delivering environmental and social outcomes as part of O Mahurangi – Penlink.

The project is an opportunity to change the way we deliver transport and infrastructure projects, especially how we view and use resources and waste. We are committed to minimising greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project. We are also aiming to provide benefits that will leave a lasting, positive legacy in the community and wider industry.

One way we are minimising greenhouse gas emissions is by using a hybrid fleet of construction machines on site. We spoke on this earlier in the year, but our fleet has grown since April. We now have:

• 5 Cat D7E hybrid bulldozers
• 10 Tier 4 articulated dump trucks. Tier 4 engine technology provides for ultra-low emissions and outstanding fuel efficiency
• Various hybrid excavators

These machines have proven to be an innovative and sustainable addition to our construction fleet. We will provide updates in the future as our hybrid fleet grows.

The theme for this year is Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori – making the language stronger.

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori: Te Whakapakari Ake I Te Reo | Māori Language Week: Making the Language Stronger

This month, the project team celebrated Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori | Māori Language Week during the week of 11-17 o Hepetema 2023 | 11-17 September 2023 with the rest of Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrates the presentation of the Māori Language Petition to parliament on the 14th September 1972. It has been marked every year since 1975. 

The theme for this year is Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori – making the language stronger. The campaign is an essential piece of the puzzle to achieving the goal of 1 million speakers of te reo Māori in 2040.

Across our project offices, we had a presentation about the importance of celebrating and promoting Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Because it is a week where New Zealanders give te reo a go, we went through the Māori alphabet together and focused on how to pronounce the vowels. Correct vowel pronunciation is key when trying to sound out a new Māori word.

We also learned some everday greetings in te reo, such as: 

• Kei te pēhea koe? | How are you?
• Kei te pai ahau | I am good
• Kei te ora ahau | I am well
• Mōrena | Good morning
• Ata mārie | Good morning
• Ka pai ngā rā whakatā! | Have a good weekend!

You can learn more about Te Rangaihi Reo Maori | The Movement here: https://www.reomaori.co.nz/about

Some of the Earthworks Team presenting at a Construction Ready event, from left to right: Emma, Hayden, Ben, Dane, Jamie, Sonny, Andres, Jimmy, Tim (working as an operator now), and Joanna.

Arotahi Kaimahi: Rōpū Tūkari Whenua | Staff Spotlight: Earthworks Team

We found it fitting to spotlight our Earthworks Team this month with the next season starting soon. Earthworks is any activity that disturbs soil, earth or land surfaces. For the whole project, they will be moving a total of 1.1 million cubic metres across 23 fills and 24 cuts on the main alignment. We are lucky to have an experienced Earthworks Team who have worked on many projects including Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth, Te Ahu a Turanga – Manawatū Tararua Highway, and Northern Corridor Improvements.

Please reference the project zones map from earlier in the newsletter as needed.

• Jamie, Earthworks Superintendent, oversees the Earthworks Team. Jamie has more than 35 years of experience managing and delivering civil and construction projects throughout New Zealand.
• Dane, Senior Project Engineer, is responsible for bulk earthworks project wide. He works with Jamie to ensure the Earthworks Team is operating to a high level of safety, quality, and production while ensuring environmental compliance is met.
• Jason, Supervisor, is responsible for overseeing and coordinating safety, environment and sediment controls, production, and quality. His target this season is to enable the Duck Creek Road Bridge piling by March 2024.
• Sonny, Supervisor, is responsible for bulk earthworks across the western half of the project. Sonny’s role is to keep safety at the heart of everything we do and will play a big part in driving a high standard of safety culture across his crew.
• Jimmy, Project Engineer, is responsible for bulk earthworks through Zone 2 on the project. His aim this season is to lead a team to move 190,000 cubic metres safely.
• Blake, Site Engineer, is responsible for bulk earthworks and batter stabilisation works. He works closely with Jimmy and Sonny to meet the Zone 2 Earthworks Programme targets.
• Andres, Site Engineer, plays a key role in ensuring all works are built to the design and specification. He works with the Zone 1 Site Team and his goal this season is to complete half of Cut 6, filling both Fills 4 and 5 at East Coast Road.
• Joanna, Project Engineer, is responsible for bulk Earthworks in the Duck Creek Road area early in the season and will transition to Whangaparāoa later in the season. This earthworks season her goal is to safely move 125,000 cubic metres.
• Emma, Graduate Site Engineer, works closely with Joanna in the Duck Creek Road area. Emma’s role is to ensure all works are being built to meet the design and quality documentation is captured.
• Hayden, Foreman, oversees earthworks in the Duck Creek Road area with Jason, Joanna, and Emma. He ensures earthworks are carried out efficiently and safely.
• Ben, Engineering Cadet, is gaining practical experience within the Earthworks Team. He primarily assists Earthworks Team members with testing and quality assurance.

Community members at our drop-in session earlier this month.

Nau mai haere mai | Come and Join Us

Thank you to all who joined us earlier this month for the first of two community drop-in sessions. If you missed out, we'll be at the Hibiscus Coast RSA this weekend.

Come along to meet the team and learn more about the project:

• Saturday, 30 September 2023
• 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Hibiscus Coast RSA (43A Vipond Road, Stanmore Bay, Whangaparāoa 0932)

Whakapā Mai | Contact Us

For more information on the O Mahurangi - Penlink project, call us on 0800 7365 465 or email us at omahurangi@nzta.govt.nz. 

Visit our website: www.nzta.govt/penlink