Image 1 (left): The team prepare the Otaika Bridge for the concrete barriers and kerb to be poured. Image 2 (right): The new Otaika Bridge with the concrete barriers, deck and kerbs poured, and the service ducts installed.

The Month Ahead: What have we done and what is coming up?

If you’ve driven, walked or ridden through the SH1 and Tarewa Road Intersection Improvements site recently, you will have noticed the changes.

Since installing the new beams on the western side of the Otaika Bridge in late January the new deck has been poured, kerbs and barriers have been installed and wing walls (these act as retaining walls to hold back the earth on the sides of the bridge) have been constructed. This progress allows services such as gas, water, power, phone and internet to be installed in and on the bridge before we begin to lay the new road surface.

In the coming months the team will continue installing the new service trenches along SH1 and Tarewa Road, commissioning each service as they are installed. The team will also begin to concentrate on preparing the new road surface on the western side of SH1. This will involve moving traffic lanes and pedestrian walkways and we will let you know about closer to works starting.

For more detail on what we have recently completed and what we will soon complete, please read on.

Image 3 (above): An open section of service trench in Tarewa Park which has now been backfilled. In the final layout, this will run under the footpath, next to the new, northbound lanes.

What have we done in March and April?

• Poured the new concrete deck, kerbs and barriers on the Otaika Bridge.

• Completed building the western ‘wing walls’ for the new Otaika Bridge.

• Continued relocating the existing services into ‘service trenches’ along the western and south-eastern sides of Otaika Road and on Tarewa Road. The new service trenches will ensure easy access for future maintenance and reduced impacts on neighbours. In some areas we have completed installing the trenches and services, enabling us to backfill.

• Began installing service ducts through the new Otaika Bridge. The ducts will carry services such as gas, water, power, phone and internet across the Raumanga Stream. 

• Continued building new retaining walls and acoustic fences on private properties. These will help to support SH1 when it’s widened to two lanes in each direction.

• We shifted the live traffic lanes so service work could be completed. This was made possible by the removal of the old traffic islands and the temporary right turn closures at Tarewa Road.

Image 4 (above): Preparation of the base layers of the new road surface for SH1 is underway in Tarewa Park.

What will we do in May?

• Specialist teams will continue to install services such as water, telecommunications, gas and drainage in the new service trench that will service houses and businesses in the area.

• We plan to complete the new retaining walls which will support the additional lanes when built.

• We will continue to shape new driveway entrances for properties on the western side of SH1.

• We will continue preparation work for the new SH1 northbound lanes and will start to prepare the new road surface for the two southbound lanes on SH1.

More information

For more information on the Tarewa Road Intersection Improvements project, contact us by emailing barbara.ware@nzta.govt.nz or amanda.petherick@downer.co.nz 

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/tarewa-road