Girls with Hi-Vis

For the second year in a row, we held the annual Girls with Hi-Vis event in June with a great turnout from four of our local high schools.

This year’s event featured Kahlen Flexman (pictured above, bottom right), an inspirational young woman who participated as a student in our 2022 event and has since joined the Fulton Hogan regional team as a cadet.

Kahlen attended last year’s event to “get a day off school” and was inspired to join our industry. She totally loves what she does now working in the traffic department.

Kahlen’s story reinforces why we do these events, to inspire young women and reaffirm that everybody is welcome in our industry with plenty of opportunities to gain experience and learn in the diverse world of infrastructure.

New Zealand has a lot of infrastructure to build, maintain and due to recent weather events, reconstruct so there is plenty of opportunity to contribute and make a real difference.

Cambridge Road Overbridge upcoming works

Major Cambridge Road tie-in works will be happening soon. Please send your details to info@takitimunorthlink.co.nz to be kept up to date.

Project updates

EARTHWORKS

Earthworks in the Wairoa Valley are on hold until the next earthworks season, starting in October this year. The weather has brought many challenges for the team over the last year, so we are focusing on areas that are less weather dependant and therefore more achievable.

STRUCTURES

Currently we have five of the eight bridges under construction. Due for completion in late 2023 will be Cambridge Road, Wairoa Road, and Minden Road Bridges. Once the bridges are completed, we will then tie them into the existing roads and utilities. This work requires coordination between the various structures, utilities, drainage, and earthworks teams.

DRAINAGE

Throughout construction, drainage is the unsung hero until the road is operational, meaning that planning and construction needs to be done well so that during weather events the road is still safe to drive on. The work to install drainage starts at this stage of the project. The team is currently working through the detailed design phase and work is underway installing catchpits and manholes for the Cambridge Road and Wairoa Road tie in works. Harrison Road is near completion, and the team are continuing to work on various areas around the bridge tie-in.

CULVERTS

Culverts, a critical part of the drainage system are the large concrete structures that channel water away from the roads and into waterways. On the Takitimu North Link Project 19 culverts are being constructed and installed. The smallest is five meters long and 600mm wide, with the biggest being 99 meters long and two metres wide! Construction for the culverts will start in the next few months.

Project statistics

UTILITIES

• Manholes   316
• Drainage    10900m
• Catch pits   122
• Wingwalls   27

STRUCTURES

• Wick Drains                403,000Lm out of approx. 600,000Lm required
• Driven Piling               Driven 5,600m of casing out of 8,200m required
• Pre-cast Beams           Placed 51 of 187 required
• Concrete poured         4,300m3
• MGB Structural Steel   1,400T steel

Minden Gully

Piling continues in Minden Gully, as well as reinforcing steel being installed in preparation for the bridge deck.

Wairoa Awa (River) Bridge

Piling in the Wairoa river is underway.

Have your say on Takitimu North Link Stage Two

You are now available to view the draft plans for Stage Two of the Takitimu North Link in Tauranga with public engagement open from 3 July to 4 August, marking a significant step forward to protect this route, and extending the new State Highway 2 onward to Ōmokoroa.

Following public engagement, we expect to lodge designation and resource consents with Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council in the second half of 2023.

You can view materials online and have your say by Friday 4 August 2023 at www.nzta.govt.nz/takitimunorth

Upcoming works on SH2 between Clarke Road and Te Puna RoadHeading

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency advises that roadside drainage work is coming up soon on State Highway 2, which involves a shoulder closure and speed reduction between Clarke Road and Te Puna Road.

The works are scheduled for Wednesday 2 August, Thursday 3 August and Friday 4 August.

There will be a reduced speed limit of 60km/h between 9am and 5pm past the work site on each of these days.

Road users should expect delays and adhere to sign-posted speed limits to ensure workers are kept safe.

Note: These works are subject to weather conditions and the dates/timing may change. Keep an eye on Journey Planner for up to date information journeys.nzta.govt.nz/traffic.

More information

Read more and sign up for updates about the project at nzta.govt.nz/takitimunorth

Contractors Fulton Hogan/HEB Joint Venture are designing and constructing the project, with BBO the principal advisor.  The design of Takitimu North Link is being delivered by Beca, with Holmes Consultancy Limited Partnership as a subconsultant.

Phone 0800 865 776
Email info@takitimunorthlink.co.nz
Website nzta.govt.nz/takitimunorth