While it’s great news that the country is moving to ’orange’, we at PP2Ō still have controls in place to manage the Health and Safety of our staff and visitors, as well as ensure good progress is made on the Expressway.
Paving is the big focus for the PP2Ō Expressway team at the moment and, if you drive along SH1 often, you’ll notice the significant progress our asphalt crew has been making. As of this month, we’ve laid 94% of the AC20 asphalt and 68% of AC14 asphalt. Both AC20 and AC14 are components of the Expressway’s 175mm structural paving, also called deep lift asphalt, which are the first two layers of asphalt before we apply the ‘icing on the cake’ i.e. 25mm of EMOGPA (Epoxy Modified Open Graded Porous Asphalt). After we finish the AC20 and AC14 on the main alignment, the focus will shift to asphalt works at the tie-ins, ramps and bridges over the winter period.
We’re planning to lay a small section of EMOGPA next month to ensure we’ve got our methodology nailed down before the winter months set in (roughly June through to August), with the remaining sections scheduled to be laid in the spring (September onwards). The cold and wet winter weather prevents the laying of thin surfaces such as EMOGPA due to low ground/air temperatures which pose a risk to the quality and durability of the product during placement.
This month, we’ve laid more than 100,000 tons of deep lift asphalt on the main alignment.
The Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway will provide a safer, more resilient, and efficient route between Wellington and the North once complete.
If you need any further information, please visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/pp2o, call us on 0800 PP2O INFO or email pp2o@nzta.govt.nz
Ngā mihi
Chris Hunt, Project Director
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