2. Lifting our final beams

If you travel down SH1 at Tamahere, you will see the big 300 tonne crane working there. It’s lifting our final set of beams into place on the Cambridge Road Bridge. This is the last set of bridge beams to be placed on this project. Eight bridges are now complete, with eight more now well advanced. Motorists using this bridge will either head south towards Cambridge or exit to Tamahere.

A series of bridges have been built on this project to carry local roads over the expressway. The last of these – on Horsham Downs Road – will open prior to Christmas 2019.

3. Rail bridge nearing completion

The bridge carrying the expressway over the East Coast Main Trunk rail line near Ruakura Road was partially constructed to allow dump trucks to haul sand safely over the rail line. With hauling complete, bridge construction has recommenced. The video below shows the barriers being installed.

4. Preparing to build the road

Before we can lay rock to build the road, we need to trim and roll our final layer of compacted sand. The photo below shows graders and rollers preparing the sand surface for road construction.

5. Hi-Lab snaking its way south

Hi-Lab is a special blend of compacted rock, reinforced with cement and is designed to provide a longer-lasting road surface. This blend is currently being laid and compacted near the Resolution Interchange, as road construction continues from north to south. The video below shows the road construction process – spreading Hi-Lab from bottom dumper trucks, grading it and compacting it, then testing to ensure the surface is at the right level. Later, this surface will be sealed with a thick layer of asphalt.

More information

For more information on the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway, contact us at waikatoexpressway@nzta.govt.nz or phone us on 0800 322 044.

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/hamilton