Volunteers from all five SCIRT (Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team) partners have helped give Christchurch children of all abilities a special new play area.

The Sensory Garden in New Brighton opened to the public on the weekend, after months of planning and two solid weeks of hard labour by SCIRT volunteers. Delivered in partnership with Christchurch charity SmileDial, which McConnell Dowell has supported for several years, the Sensory Garden was a long-time dream of SmileDial founder Kelly Dugan, whose daughter has cerebal palsy and struggles to use typical playgrounds.

“It always seemed that we were adapting to the surroundings so my daughter could enjoy them,” says Kelly, “and I thought surely there must be an easier way.”

Initiated as a SCIRT team wellness initiative, the project aimed to bring the combined delivery teams together to ‘give something back’ to the community. They were thrilled to be able to bring Kelly’s idea to life.

Each component of the garden is designed in to be accessible to all children, including those with special needs. It gives children the chance to explore their senses through interaction with nature, and includes edible plants, plants with textures and scents (including stinky ones), a wheelchair accessible boat, water play, a sandpit and a musical footpath.

Behind the scenes, McConnell Dowell Wellbeing Co-ordinator Nicole Hill and HR Co-ordinator Linda Plower worked hard to co-ordinate the volunteers from the SCIRT partners and donations of materials from suppliers, while Downer Project Manager Mario Wolfrum kept the team on track during the fortnight of construction. Over 20 McConnell Dowell people gave their time to help prepare the ground, box gardens, spread mulch, plant trees and install the garden’s features.

“SCIRT has always been about people and teamwork – people from hundreds of organisations working together to improve the lives of the people of Christchurch," says SCIRT General Manager Ian Campbell. "This project was particularly rewarding because it gave us the opportunity to do something extra for some very special children.”

A TV crew from Seven Sharp captured the opening day ribbon cutting and met Lucia Dugan, the little girl who inspired it all.

The garden taking shape

Almost finished

Colourful art

Lucia making some music

An unusual and striking approach to a pedestrian and cycle underpass has won the Excellence in Civil Concrete Construction category at the 2016 Concrete Sustainability Awards.

The 180m long underpass, which was opened on 9 September, is part of the NZ$93m Russley Rd upgrade in Christchurch, which is being delivered by a McConnell Dowell Downer Joint Venture together with designer AECOM and sub consultants Jasmax and WAM.

It travels under the new Harewood Roundabout, aims to provide high quality active transport infrastructure and provide safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists and to the growing Christchurch International Airport precinct.

Cast by local producer Cancast using concrete moulds following a 3D CAD model, the 84 multi-faceted, concrete panels are painted in glossy white and evoke the Southern Alps. Four 1.5 – 8m wide inter-panel sections were cast in-situ using vertical rough sawn timber boards with vertical 10mm triangular grooves to contrast with the texture and form of the precast panels. These inter-panel sections are painted in the colours of the sky from west to east: West Coast sunset, stormy West Coast sky, the Nor’west arch and the broad blue Canterbury sky. Both surfaces are tactile, inviting touch; and with the paint finishes, a dynamic play of light reflectance, shadow form and colour contrast is produced.

Within the roundabout, 25 spun, 500mm diameter concrete pipes channel natural light into the underpass. They are oriented towards the sun and pierce through to the roundabout to deliver intense moments of sunlight that travel along the walls and floor as the sun moves through the sky. The pipes are painted in the same high gloss white to reflect natural light down into the underpass.

“The quality of the finished structure is truly supreme – both striking and functional,” says McConnell Dowell Downers Contractors Representative and McConnell Dowell Roading Director Aidan Brannan. “It sets a very high standard in urban transportation features for the future.”

Inter-panel sections cast in-situ contrast with the texture, form and colour of the precast panels.

The multi-faceted concrete panels are painted in glossy white and evoke the Southern Alps.

Congratulations to McConnell Dowell Learning and Development Manager Anand Naidu, who was awarded Runner Up in the Practitioner of the Year category at last night’s NZATD Awards.

Second place was a significant achievement given the huge number of entries in this category. The award acknowledged Anand’s “broad range of skills: strategy, coaching, mentoring, leadership, design skills [and] assessment.”

The judges particularly noted the significance of establishing McConnell Dowell’s in-house Private Training Enterprise - the first in the construction industry – which Anand has been responsible for implementing and running.

“We acknowledge that establishing a PTE for his employer which links to accredited training is a tremendous achievement” they said.

After just 12 months of operation, the PTE received an ‘excellent’ rating in its first NZQA Audit.

The judges were also impressed by Anand’s personal contribution to the community, for which he received a Queens Service Medal in 2013.

Anand has worked as an L&D professional for over 30 years in a variety of roles including secondary and tertiary School Teacher, Information Technology Trainer, Lecturer, Webmaster, Senior Trainer, Community Education Tutor, People Capability Manager, OD/L&D Advisor, Assessor/Moderator, Qualification Developer and L&D Manager. He actively contributes to the Learning and Development industry by delivering conference presentations, and taking an active part in a number of groups and associations.

Anand demonstrates a strong work ethic, maintains a high level of personal integrity, and focuses on relationship building and facilitating achievement though learning. He has also been instrumental in transitioning the culture within McConnell Dowell from a ‘training’ focus to one of ‘learning and development’.

“This is an outstanding achievement and deserving recognition of Anand for what he has achieved in getting our PTE to where it is today,” says New Zealand and Pacific Islands Managing Director Roger McRae. “It is also due recognition of Anand’s service to the training industry - we are proud of his achievement and standing in the industry.”

A blessing and ceremonial planting officiated by local iwi Ngati Wheke marked the start this week of geotechnical risk mitigation works at Sumner Road in Christchurch.

Representatives from McConnell Dowell and partners Beca, Geovert and Doug Hood Mining were present to celebrate the official start to the project

Alongside Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and the NZ Transport Agency’s Southern Regional Director Jim Harland, McConnell Dowell Operations Manager Joe Edwards and Board Member Linda Constable planted some Kowhai, Ngaio and Griselinia shrubs at the top of the bluff to mark the occasion.

The team is excited to be starting on the challenging and complex project and proud to be helping deliver such an important project for the local community. Sumner Road from Evans Pass to Lyttelton has been closed since February 2011, when the earthquake damaged the road and made area too unstable to access. The project will mitigate geohazard risks to road users and return the roading corridor between the Sumner side of the causeway and Lyttelton to its pre-quake level of service.

“We have gathered experts in a number of fields including geotechnical analysis, rope access ground engineering, drilling, blasting, earthworks and roading to prepare Sumner Road for remediation works and reopening”, says Contractor’s Representative Marianne Rogers.

“Our focus is to inspect the terrain around Sumner Road and to stabilise the rock loosened by the earthquakes safely and efficiently, securing the cliffs so work to repair Sumner Road can begin.

Works will include scaling the upper reaches of the Crater Rims Bluffs, abseiling down the cliffs and removing any rock that isn’t stable or secure. Large rocks will need be removed using controlled blasting or bolted and meshed.

A 400m long, 15m wide catchbench will be excavated directly below the Crater Rim Bluffs and above the Sumner Road to catch and prevent rockfall from reaching the road. A rock bund several metres high and 50 metres long, will also be constructed in the gully to the west of the Crater Rim Bluffs to intercept rockfall. It will be covered with basalt cobbles to reflect the basalt stone walls in the area.

Structural repairs will be completed under the existing road so it can be used as a ‘haul road’ to transport excess rock from the excavation of the bench. This is a faster and more cost effective option than constructing a separate haul road and it also makes a start on the repair work required to return the road to two-lanes.

Work to make the area around Sumner Road stable enough so it can be repaired is a critical part of the rebuild effort and one of four projects within the Sumner-Lyttelton Corridor programme.

Once the geotechnical risk mitigation work is completed, the next stage of work will begin, investigating the extent of the damage to retaining walls along the road. The road will then be repaired and reinstated. At this stage, it’s expected that the road will reopen in 2018.