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.
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.
McConnell Dowell’s Private Training Establishment (PTE), the first in New Zealand’s construction industry, has been recognised at the 2016 ITENZ Awards.
Registered in 2013, the PTE was established to provide high-quality and effective training that leads to improved safety outcomes on McConnell Dowell’s construction sites.
It is designed to meet the relevant industry requirements and current best practice as well as being aligned with McConnell Dowell’s internal standards and company values. All learning and assessment material goes through a stringent internal and external moderation process, to ensure that the training meets the required national standards and that the assessments are fair and robust.
Training is designed to be accessible - it is scheduled around daily work practice and schedules, and offers flexible hours such as training on the weekend to minimise down-time on site.
Courses aim to be engaging and interesting by including a mix of media, presentation styles, presenters and interactive activities. To support trainees from diverse cultural backgrounds, and literacy and numeracy support is also provided.
Benefits of the training include better understanding of obligations, greater confidence to raise safety concerns, improved participation in safety conversations and activities, and ultimately, greater safety consciousness and reduction of incidents. The outcomes support McConnell Dowell’s goal of Zero Harm every day.
McConnell Dowell was awarded a Highly Commended in the Provider of the Year category, which recognises the provider which has been outstanding in the promotion of quality assurance in an independent tertiary education organisation.
The judges were impressed with the way McConnell Dowell has used feedback to improve delivery and content, and applies systems which are likely to lead to students’ communication, learning and achievement successes.
L&D Manager Anand Naidu received the award.
McConnell Dowell is thrilled to have received recognition from our client NZ Transport Agency for ‘Going the Extra Mile’ on two of the high profile projects we are delivering for them - the Russley Rd Upgrade in Christchurch, and the Waterview Connection in Auckland.
The Russley Rd Upgrade, being delivering in a joint venture with Downer, received the Keeping Customers Moving Award, for our innovative approach to temporary traffic management at the Memorial Roundabout. By constructing the slip roads first and linking them into one big roundabout that encircles the construction area, and supported by a comprehensive stakeholder communications strategy, the team was able to avoid 12 proposed traffic management changes throughout the construction programme. It has minimised disruption to the public, created a safer working envelope for construction and enabled the project to proceed ahead of schedule.
“Every day we’re looking for ways to live up to McConnell Dowell’s aim of ‘Creative Construction’,” says Roading Director Aidan Brannan. “The Project Team has done a sterling job of rising to the challenge of delivering a unique road feature not seen previously in New Zealand, and from which our customers benefit every day.”
Road users frequently comment that the new roundabout is more efficient than the previous one, their journey time reliability has increased and traffic disruption reduced.
The Well-Connected Alliance, the team delivering the Waterview Connection Project in Auckland also won three awards, including the Supreme Award.
The Teaming Up Award recognises ‘working with others collaboratively to achieve outstanding results’. Waterview’s has worked with the Transport Agency and educational organisations to host visits to site by more than 200 college students last year as part of a Government initiative to encourage students to consider engineering-related jobs. These visits required significant planning and support from people right across the project, and the judges said Waterview had worked with others collaboratively to achieve “outstanding results.”
For the second year running, Waterview also won the Connecting with Our Community Award, reflecting the project team’s commitment to engaging with the community beyond normal expectations. With the project area spanning five suburbs, the team has “walked with the community” in small and large ways including formation of a community design group, management of cultural impacts in partnership with key mana whenua partners, and co-designing a playground with the local school, a process which won the team the Best Practice Award from the NZ Planning Institute.
Topping off the hat-trick, the Supreme Award was open to all the successful GEM finalists and celebrated outstanding performance in Going the Extra Mile.
“This is an outstanding outcome for all of us. Our GEM success justly recognises the passion and commitment all our people and teams demonstrate on this great project of ours,” said Alliance Project Manager Iain Simmons.
“The NZ Transport Agency is one of our most valued clients, so we’re delighted with their recognition of our efforts to deliver their projects to the highest standard possible,” says Managing Director Roger McRae. “We look forward to delivering transport solutions with the Agency for many years to come.”
About the GEM Awards
The GEM (Going the Extra Mile) Awards acknowledge the NZ Transport Agency’s suppliers for their commitment to the Agency’s our priorities and quality industry standards, and are a way to exhibit outstanding examples of the diverse range of activities on the state highway network.
The finished playground
A playground design workshop at Waterview school
McConnell Dowell is pleased to announce our success at the 2016 International Pipe Line & Offshore Contractors Association (IPLOCA) Excellence in Project Execution Award on Friday in Paris, France. The company’s Fourth Transmission Pipeline Phase 2 (FTP2) project in Thailand beat outstanding projects from around the world to secure the award for Excellence in Project Execution. Further information about the award can be found at the IPLOCA website.
Delivered between June 2014 and August 2015, the complex gas pipeline and facilities project spanning over a distance of 300km was completed in a challenging, densely populated environment, ahead of a demanding one-year schedule and with zero lost time injuries.
Speaking on accepting the award, Project Director Rod Blackwell thanked customer PTT Public Company Limited, construction partner CCC and his project team.
“The collaborative relationship formed between McConnell Dowell and PTT was the foundation of success for the project. It allowed us to align our objectives, present as a seamless team to the local community, and address every challenge encountered quickly and effectively.”
“Our project team was outstanding. Along with our partner CCC we successfully managed a peak workforce of over 2,800 people spread over more than 50 concurrent worksites to deliver the project safely and to a high quality standard. The results showcase the skill, commitment and dedication of all involved. Thank you to everyone on the team.”
McConnell Dowell (again in JV with CCC) also received the runners-up prize for the 520km long Australia Pacific LNG pipeline project; showcasing the company’s broad geographic footprint and resource capacity for delivering major, cross-country pipeline projects.
The
video showcases the challenges and triumphs of our team on this important project.
