He pānui | Construction update

Kia ora

The days are getting longer and generally drier, which is good news for construction.  This helps us achieve our game plan and hopefully avoid weather delays so we can have a strong run up to the end of the year.

Last month we started our project works on Beach Road at Papakura, between Chichester Drive and the motorway (see photo above).  Our pavement works continue on the northbound side of the motorway and now also on the southbound side of the motorway north of Papakura Interchange.

Down at Drury Interchange, it may look like the three North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) bridges are nearly complete, however, various finishing works remain including installing barrier rails, anti-throw screens and other related works.  Following this, there will be a pause on this site until the main Drury Interchange upgrade works kick off next year. 

Te rā haumaru | Safety Day

Safety is our top priority on the SH1 Papakura to Drury project, as we want everyone to get home safely to their families and whānau.  Late last month, the project team held its annual safety day at Drury Hall, attended by almost 130 team members including subcontractors.

There are many things on any project that can go wrong, so it is important for our crew on the ground and engineers and designers to think about safety on every shift and communicate with each other.  We ask ourselves the following three 'Stay Safe' questions: "What am I doing?", "What could go wrong?", and "How can I do it safely?"

Talking about safety not only keeps our crew safe, but also members of the public living beside or travelling through the work site.  Safety is a team effort, and various teams, such as traffic management, designers, engineers, and the crew, came together to focus on and ensure the safety of our site.  Ka rawe! / that's great!

Pop-quiz at the safety day to keep everyone on their toes.

Kaua e tutū ki ngā taura hiko | Don’t mess with powerlines!

Four overhead signage gantries are being installed as part of our current stage of works.  One of these gantries will span all northbound and southbound lanes of the motorway while the other three will span either the northbound or southbound lanes only.  Last month, we completed all the piles for these gantries, finishing off with piling just north of Papakura Interchange near Jack Farrell Park.

The last gantry pile near the park was in a tricky location, with power lines above it - which meant we could not use our crane to drive in temporary steel pile casings in which to pour concrete for the pile.  Our crane was too high and too near the powerlines.

Given these safety considerations, we instead used a thick slurry liquid (drilling fluid) to support the sides of the hole being dug by an augur for the gantry pile.  Reinforcing steel for the piles was then lowered into the hole and the concrete was pumped in.  As the concrete is heavier than the drilling fluid, it sank down and pushed the drilling fluid up where it could be sucked out into a tank without harming the environment.  Once the gantry piles have cured, the final concrete footing works for the gantries will be completed this month.

This is not the first time careful planning and methodology has been required on the Papakura to Drury project due to the proximity of overhead powerlines.  Curious eyes may have spotted that there are no streetlights installed in the permanent concrete median for a distance of around 200m on the south side of the NZ Bloodstock site at Karaka.  This is because high voltage powerlines stretch diagonally across the motorway at this point, swinging down over the central median.  When our motorway widening works are completed, streetlights through this 200m stretch will instead be safely installed on both sides of the motorway rather than in the central median, ensuring that any low powerlines swaying in the wind will not come near or into contact with the streetlights.

The auger machine is removing soil where a concrete pile will be installed near Jack Farrell Park, while drilling fluid is pumped in at the same time.

Mahi ki te rori o Beach | Works on Beach Road

With the rebuilt southbound loop on-ramp reopened in September, last month we began works on Beach Road at Papakura.  In addition to widening the road to build the approach for the new (second) southbound on-ramp, we are also relocating and upgrading underground utility services and upgrading ITS (intelligent transport systems) cables at the Chichester Drive/Elliot Street intersection.  We will also be building a realigned footpath and cycle path on the southbound side of the road west of Chichester Drive.

Our pavement works on Beach Road started at night with breaking out the existing traffic island, asphalting, and re-marking the road to shift the westbound lanes slightly north between Chichester Drive and the motorway overbridge.  This lane shift allows us to work safely on the side of Beach Road during the day behind temporary barriers without a lane and/or road closure beside us.  While most of our work can be done during the day, night work will be required if it cannot be done safely during the day, or where a temporary lane or road closure is required.  If you wish to receive updates regarding works on Beach Road, please let us know – see the 'Contact us' section below.

Currently, we have removed the existing footpath between Chichester Drive and the bridge on the southern side of Beach Road.  This month we will continue with earthworks and pavement works including installing stormwater drainage, followed by stabilising the aggregate base of the widened pavement.

To ensure the safety of pedestrians during our works on Beach Road, we have temporarily redirected them across to the northern side of the road, using safe crossing facilities at nearby traffic lights.

Breaking out the existing footpath on the south side of Beach Road, west of Chichester Drive.

Ngā pikitia | Latest photos from site

We remain busy across the site, with lots of pavement and asphalt works; stormwater management improvement works; landscape planting; installing and future-proofing utility services and continuing bridge building works by Drury Interchange.

E haere ake nei | Looking ahead

During the coming months, our project works include:

• Continuing to build box culverts and pavement for road widening on the northbound side of the motorway, including north of Papakura Interchange
• Continuing pavement and drainage works on the southbound side of the motorway, north of Papakura Interchange
• Continuing work on a new southbound on-ramp at Papakura Interchange
• Continuing drainage, shared path and pavement works on Beach Road
• Relocating and upgrading of utility services
• At the NIMT bridge site at Drury Interchange, installing barrier rails and anti-throw  screens on the concrete decks of the three new motorway bridges being built over the railway lines.

Whakapā mai | Contact us

For further information regarding the project please contact our team:

P: 0800 796 796 or text 027 703 5284 - for construction-related queries
P: 0800 741 722 - for general project queries
E: p2b@nzta.govt.nz
W: www.nzta.govt.nz/p2b

You can also visit the Papakura to Drury project site office during normal business hours (weekdays 8am-5pm) at 25 Tegal Road, Drury.