2. And here’s another view…

In this video, we show two aerial flyovers at the same time. The first was filmed in August 2017. The second was filmed in April 2018. It’s amazing to see the progress we’ve made in a short period of time.

3. Relocating our native fish

The southern gullies provide some awesome habitat for our native fish species.

Our environmental team have just finished fishing the East West Gully in Tamahere before we install a 75m-long culvert. They’ve caught and relocated 14 longfin eels, 3 banded kokopu and 3 koura. The longest eel was 900mm and the largest banded kokopu was 220mm – a sizeable specimen for this species.

Longfin eels are a declining species. The banded kokopu is the most resilient of five species of kokopu that are known as whitebait in their juvenile form. They are known as galaxiids because their markings resemble a galaxy of stars. The banded kokopu population is now stable across New Zealand, while others are declining.

4. Preparing for the traffic switch

By December, we’re planning to switch SH1 traffic off Cambridge Road, on to two new lanes we’re building along the expressway alignment. The two new lanes will take traffic under the new East West Link Bridge.

Our earthworks and pavement teams are currently constructing the two new lanes in preparation for the traffic switch. Over the last month, concrete kerbing has been installed north of the Airport Interchange, and cement has been mixed with aggregate to stabilise the pavement prior to sealing (pictured below).

Expect night works in November/December when we tie the new lanes in with the existing highway.

5. Digging under Matangi Road Bridge

We’re about to excavate the expressway under the Matangi Road Bridge. This bridge was built ‘on the ground’ to keep traffic flowing while we excavate the expressway underneath.

We’ll be capturing the dig on timelapse video, so we’ll bring you that footage in the next update.

6. Beam team overcomes rain and fog

The team placing the beams on the Ruakura Interchange Bridge had two days to finish the work. The first day was fog-bound. The second was hammered by torrential rain. Despite the weather, the bridge team managed to get all seven beams transported onto site and into place by the end of day two.

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