Team members Michelle Bishop and Hemi Heta at the construction site for the Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway project office near Ashhurst.

Up and running!

Our programme of important enabling works is now underway, ahead of main highway construction getting started in the new year.

Enabling works comprise a range of activities, including establishing a quarry and building tracks to allow access for workers, materials and equipment.

Project office
Our main project office is beginning to take shape, at the western end of the highway alignment near Ashhurst.

The 1,500 square metre office is due for completion in November and will house up to 100 members of the Te Ahu a Turanga Alliance project team. This will be the administrative hub of our project for the next four years until the road is completed at the end of 2024.

Once open to the public, the office will include a visitor information centre in the reception area, featuring the latest updates, images and video as construction progresses.

There are still some pre-fabricated office units to arrive over the next month and a half, so please be mindful of these wide loads as they arrive onsite, near the gorge entrance.

Quarry establishment
Elsewhere we are in the process of establishing a quarry – to provide aggregate for the highway construction – at Broadlands Station, off Saddle Road near Ashhurst. In early October we’ll start work on creating a right turn bay on Saddle Road, to allow safe access to the quarry for trucks collecting aggregate.

This will require temporary traffic management measures that may include narrowed lanes, speed restrictions and stop/go signals for the one-month duration of the work.

Please keep an eye on facebook.com/nztacni for updates.

Saddle Road left-hand turn
Also due to get underway in October is the creation of a track for project vehicles to access construction sites for two of the highway’s bridges, along with an area to be used for earthworks.

The project vehicles will access the track from a new left-hand turn (when travelling eastward) off Saddle Road, passing under the Pohangina Bridge and extending about 1km to the work sites.

Warning signs will be in place to alert Saddle Road users to this activity.

Cable relocations
As the new highway is passing through Te Āpiti Windfarm, we are installing three new wind turbine cables to ensure continuity of operations for Meridian Energy.

We’ll start this work in October and expect to finish in December.

Note: All timeframes are subject to a number of factors including consenting approvals and weather.

Work to start soon on temporary car park

As the current Manawatū gorge car park is required for construction of the project’s bridge over the Manawatū River, we are going to create a temporary car park on nearby property, accessed from SH3 Napier Road.

This will be of similar size as the existing car park (about 3,500 square metres) and we aim to complete this work during October.

In November the existing gorge car park will be closed and road users directed to the alternative, which will be in place until the bridge is completed and the site cleared in 2024. The current car park will then be reopened for public use.

The temporary car park will include a public viewing platform affording a spectacular vista across the gorge and the ability to observe construction of the 300-metre bridge.

More information

For more information on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway, please contact us at teahuaturanga@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website nzta.govt.nz/teahuaturanga