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Te Ahu a Turanga – Manawatū Tararua Highway

Project update

9 June 2023


	Kia ora and welcome to the latest newsletter on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway – the 11.5km route to reconnect the Manawatū, Tararua District, Hawke’s Bay and northern Wairarapa, replacing the closed State Highway 3 Manawatū Gorge route.



	The first beams are in place at the Eco-Viaduct, as seen from the bridge's northern abutment. Steel beams being installed at Eco-Viaduct bridge site The Eco-Viaduct Bridge on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway is starting to take shape after the delivery and installation of its first beams. Eighteen of the 42 bridge beams are now in place, with the remainder expected to arrive over the next four months. The beams, which are between 34 and 47 metres in length, are fabricated by Eastbridge in Napier before being transported by truck to the Te Ahu a Turanga site. Delivery of the massive beams to the project site has been a major undertaking, both logistically and because the first beams were ready for delivery not long after Cyclone Gabrielle struck. However, the deliveries were able to commence with minimal delay due to good coordination and collaboration between Eastbridge, the haulage companies, the Eco-Viaduct Bridge team and the Regulatory division of Waka Kotahi - New Zealand Transport Agency. Upon completion, the Eco-Viaduct bridge, which is located at the western end of the project site, will span 305-metres over a sensitive wetland area. The bridge is designed to minimise the footprint of the highway in this ecologically diverse area, and it will link into a shared use path that will allow people the opportunity to walk beneath the bridge and explore what will be a unique wetland experience. Below: The first beams arriving at site; and an aerial view of the progress on the bridge to May.



	More than 2.2 million cubic metres of earth has been moved from Cut 13. Largest earthworks cut on project completed Bulk earthworks is mostly completed on Cut 13, the largest cut on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway. More than 2.2 million cubic metres of earth have been moved away from Cut 13 since the start of construction in 2021, accounting for more than a third of the project's 6 million cubic metres of earth. The material taken from this area was used around the project, including at Fill 9, the largest fill on the site. At just under 60 metres in height, Cut 13 can be seen from Ashhurst and the surrounding region.The cut features four benches on the northern side and three on the eastern side, which are currently being installed with erosion control matting and sprayed with hydroseed. Earthworks progress across the rest of the site is also progressing well, with most of the focus going on parts of Zones 3 and 4. The biggest cut left to complete on the project is Cut 25 in Zone 4, which has had about 150,000 cubic metres of earth moved and has about 300,000 cubic metres to go. You can check out the latest progress by viewing the May flyover on the Te Ahu a Turanga page of the Waka Kotahi website: www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/te-ahu-a-turanga/ Below: Great progress has been made on Cut 16 between Zone 2.5 and Zone 3, with about 15,000 cubic metres of earth moved from a total of 75,000.



	The new local road, left of picture, is nearing completion ahead of a traffic switchover. Road switchover for visitors to Gorge walking track Visitors to Te Āpiti - Manawatū Gorge walking track will soon be getting there on a new road. With construction about to ramp up on the western roundabout at the Ashhurst end of Te Ahu a Turanga, the project team have nearly completed work on a local road, located between the intersection of State Highways 57 and 3, and the temporary Gorge carpark. The road will eventually provide access to the Western Gateway Park, which is being built to replace the old Gorge carpark area and to be a staging point for people using the Te Āpiti - Manawatū Gorge track. All traffic currently using Napier Rd to get to the temporary carpark will be switched over to the new road in June. As this switchover will take place overnight, no major disruption is expected.



	Earthworks Manager Clare Miller, left, and Graduate Environmental Advisor Oriwa Curtis are finalists in the National Association of Women in Construction Awards. Project staff named finalists in construction awards Two staff working on the Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway Alliance have been named finalists in the 2023 National Association of Women in Construction Awards. Te Ahu a Turanga's Earthworks Manager Clare Miller and Graduate Environmental Advisor Oriwa Curtis were announced as finalists for the awards, in the Excellence in Leadership and Student categories respectively. In total, 61 women from across the country were named finalists from more than 230 nominations. The national awards are a celebration of women working in construction, and feature categories ranging from graduates and apprentices through to rising stars and leaders in the industry. Both Clare and Oriwa work for the Alliance as employees of Goodman's Contractors. The awards ceremony will be held in Christchurch on 21 July.



	Landscaping team members planting native shrubs in Fill 9. More than 400,000 native shrubs to be planted Landscaping teams on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway have started the mammoth task of planting 420,000 native plants over the next six months. With the arrival of autumn, the project's third landscaping season has now started. This season will be the first to include planting along the highway itself. Previous seasons have focused on planting at five offset sites, but this year 220,000 native plants will be planted next to it in areas where earthworks are complete. In addition, the teams will plant 60,000 in newly-constructed stream diversions and 20,000 on the offset planting sites from previous seasons. About 120,000 natives will also be planted at an area of former farmland near the Ashhurst end of the project. These plants replace non-native trees, which were removed over the summer. While planting is a large part of what the landscaping teams do, they are also responsible for pest control. This is an important part of ensuring the planting sites are successful, as pests can destroy young plants before they get a chance to be established. The teams have been busy eradicating more than 1000 pests (mostly rabbits, hares and possums) from the areas we’ve planted over the last two seasons to make sure they continue to thrive. Te Ahu a Turanga’s landscaping and pest control teams include groups from local iwi organisations Te Ao Turoa Environmental Centre (Rangitane o Manawatū) and Ngā Manu Taiao (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua). By the end of this season, they will have put more than 1.1 million plants in the ground, with around 2 million expected to be planted by the project’s completion in 2025. Below: A view of some of the plants already planted at one of the five offset sites.


	Te Ahu a Turanga newsletter reader picture Our thanks goes out to Julie Davey for sending through this picture of Fill 9 and Cut 13, taken from the outskirts of Ashhurst. If you live nearby the project site and have any pictures you think we'd like to feature in our newsletter, please feel free to send them to teahuaturanga@nzta.govt.nz


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