54 | ENGINEERING Max Tarr Group T T Russell Fredric All at home with complex projects The pump station will ultimately replace the existing oxidation pond. Progressing large and often complex projects towards successful completion is all in a day’s work for commercial, industrial and infrastructure specialist companies of the Max Tarr Group. Based in Palmerston North, the company’s services and expertise covers commercial and industrial electrical, engineering and civil infrastructure, security and fire alarms, infrastructure lighting and mechanical engineering. A Kiwi success story, the company dates back to 1978 when Max Tarr started working from home as an electrician. Over time, he developed specialist knowledge for the industrial electrical, electronics and automation sectors. The business now operates from a purpose-built facility that has dedicated workshops for mechanical engineering and electrical assembly and has developed a strong team for undertaking significant design and build projects. These include water treatment plants, wastewater treatment processes, pump stations and major industrial plants throughout New Zealand, both for design and build, servicing and infrastructure upgrades. Infrastructure manager Reece Lloyd says, with the skills and experience of the company’s 60 staff and the pool of resources available both in house and through subcontractors, the range of projects that can be undertaken is vast. Ten of the trade staff are apprentices and the investment in these and other staff is crucial in a business where there is a high degree of specialisation, he says. “A lot of work we do is quite niche; even when we get qualified trades people there’s still a big learning curve for them, so we put a lot of investment in them.” Two large projects undertaken by Max Tarr which differ significantly are the Manawatu Wastewater Centralisation Project and the Palmerston North Hospital main switchboard upgrade, valued at $2.7 million and $2.8 million respectively. For the wastewater centralisation project, Max Tarr was awarded the detailed design and build contract for the new Sanson wastewater pump station which will pump wastewater from the township of Sanson and the Royal New Zealand Air Force Ohakea base to Manawatu District Council’s (MDC) Feilding wastewater treatment plant. “A lot of work we do is quite niche; even when we get qualified trades people there’s still a big learning curve for them, so we put a lot of investment in them.” The pump station will ultimately replace Sanson’s existing oxidation pond. “We subcontracted Blackley Construction to do the excavation and some of the civil drainlaying aspects.” “Currently the oxidation pond deals with all Sanson’s wastewater. The resource consent is running out and MDC is not going to renew it, so they are putting in a pump station and minor treatment.” “We are just about finished the first pump station. That was the first contract we won; treatment equipment and pump station number one with a backup generator. “The second contract is for two more intermediate pump stations along State Highway 3 that we are about to start building. “The three pump stations work in series to pump wastewater back to the Fielding wastewater treatment plant.” The hospital contract was undertaken by Max Tarr as a subcontractor to main contractor Downer Construction. Max Tarr was contracted to install a new main switchboard 48m in length with two separate transformer supplies and multiple separate generator supplies. This included power control and monitoring systems along with SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) installation for operation and viewing along with generator control and synchronisation for four generator sets. Highlighting the complexity of the work, it involved planning and implementation to enable the de-energising, removal, relocation and extension of 100 plus submain cables servicing the live operating hospital site, including sensitive areas such as ICU, theatres and wards in a functional hospital environment. AUTOMATION & CONTROL E3IF500mAAC20 • Under current monitoring 1-phase, measuring range 16A AC • Separately adjustable timing for start-up, suppression & tripping delay • Switching threshold 50mA to 500mA • Compact installation design • Screw terminals • Low energy consumption Enquire at MARDAG. 0800 627 324 | info@mardag.co.nz
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