Aroha, the Corban Reserve Stormwater Upgrade Project’s micro-tunnel boring machine (mTBM), has steadily begun her tunnelling journey in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).
The name, meaning love and affection, was chosen by the pupils of Henderson South School after site engineers Tom and Sarup talked to them about the project and suggested they help come up with a name for our mTBM.
Aroha is expected to complete her 685-metre tunnelling journey before Christmas, and within that three-month period, 235 precast pipes will be laid using pipe-jacking methods from Border Road Reserve to 18 Imperial Place. The team are busy at the Imperial Place site preparing the inlet shaft to receive the mTBM at the end of its journey. While tunnelling is underway, a separate civil construction team are re-scaping Murillo Reserve, extending the children’s play facilities and installing boardwalks for the local community.
Once the project is completed in mid-2023, the new pipeline will reduce flooding in the area, increase capacity within the network to allow for future growth, and protect and enhance both Opanuku and Upper Waitaro streams. It will also prevent landfill gases and leachate entering the stormwater network, making it safer to maintain.
Congratulations to Michael Harris, who has been selected to join the 2023 Roads Australia Fellowship Program.
Michael is currently our project manager on the Archer River Bridge project in Far North Queensland, and has previoulsy delivered a range of complex projects for us.
The Fellowship Program is a mentoring initiative that matches industry ‘up and comers’ like Michael, with some of the most experienced, senior leaders in the Australian infrastructure sector.
Well done Michael.
Enabling works on Te Toka Tumai Auckland’s Central Plant and Tunnel Project have been successfully completed on time, despite the disruption of COVID-19.
Senior Project Manager, Matt Beswick, is pleased about the end result. “The enabling works were, in my opinion, a massive success. A relatively small team managed to complete quite complex works in a very small footprint, most while under COVID-19 ‘Red Light’ protocols. The entire scope was delivered on time and LTI Free – a great result. This has set the foundations for the team to smash out the main works over the next three years!”
The nine-month construction programme drew heavily on McConnell Dowell’s expertise in deep-foundation construction, and effective disruption mitigation. Work included the removal of old utilities, the construction of 115 retention piles, and a concrete capping beam. Electrical and three-waters services were also installed, with some connected while ‘live’ to prevent disruption to the hospital.
The project team effortlessly shifted gears in July to deliver the second part of the contract, constructing the complex five-storey central plant structure and a tunnel for access and services.
Congratulations to two of our teams for winning sustainability awards at the annual Infrastructure Sustainability Council Gala Awards night held on 12th October 2022.
Our Echuca-Moama project team won the Social Outcomes category for our partnership with Vivid Disability Services, a regionally based not-for-profit Australian Disability Enterprise which empowers people impacted by disability. Read the case study here.
Our Regency to Pym Street project team secured the outstanding achievement award for the highest As-Built version 2.0/2.1 rating. More about that project here.
We're proud of the sustainability outcomes achieved on both these projects and the lasting legacy we are creating in the communities in which we work.
That's achieving our purpose of "Providing a better life".
McConnell Dowell have been awarded the next stage of Watercare’s North Eastern Sub-regional Wastewater Scheme, the Warkworth to Snells Transfer Pipeline. The pipeline is the next stage of the scheme which includes the Snells Algies Outfall completed by McConnell Dowell in 2021, and the Warkworth Pump Station currently being constructed by the team.
McConnell Dowell’s success in securing the contract was largely due to the Direct Pipe® construction methodology proposed to minimise disruption has been used to complete (among other projects) Watercare’s Army Bay and Snells Algies Outfall Projects and the Westland Milk Products outfall project in Hokitika. Our commitment to excellent workmanship, coupled with productive relationships and robust health and safety systems resulted in high-quality projects that were delivered with minimal disruption for the client.
The majority of the transfer pipeline will be installed using the trenchless micro tunnelling technique Direct Pipe®, with a tunnel boring machine (TBM). This installation will be completed in three Direct Pipe® drives.
The new wastewater transfer pipeline comprises the following:
- a dual rising main approximately 1.4km long from the Warkworth Pump Station to a new break chamber, and
- a single gravity sewer approximately 3.6km long connecting the chamber to the new Snells Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant.
These wastewater infrastructure upgrades will ensure local communities continue to have reliable, resilient wastewater services and meet the needs of Warkworth’s growing population well into the future. The improvements will also reduce overflows and discharges into the Mahurangi River.
Click through to find out more about the Warkworth Pump Station Project under construction or the Snells Algies Waterwater Outfall Project.