8 | 2024 CCNZ Awards: Fulton Hogan & McConnell Dowell JV: SH25A T T Richard Loader New bridge created in record time The two-lane, three-span steel and composite bridge reconnected Coromandel communities and was completed in just seven months – under budget, with no lost injury time. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT An exceptional joint venture (JV) between tier one civil contractors Fulton Hogan and McConnell Dowell to stabilise the State Highway 25A (SH25A) Taparahi Slip and construct a 124-metre-long bridge to span a collapsed section of highway has been rewarded with multiple regional and national CCNZ awards. The project was awarded the Supreme Award as well as the large project category for projects over $20 million at the Waikato Regional Civil Contractors (CCNZ) awards and went on to win the National CCNZ Award for projects between $20 million and $100 million. Complementing the bounty of CCNZ awards was a prestigious international award for Bridge Project Team of the Year from Bridges New Civil Engineer (NCE) awards held recently in London. The two-lane, three-span steel and composite bridge reconnected Coromandel communities and was completed in just seven months – under budget, with no lost injury time. It was the quickest design-and-build bridge of its size delivered in New Zealand, and the CCNZ judges commented it was a great example of how to expedite a large engineering design and construct project with minimal constraints, to deliver an exceptional outcome to the client and public without compromising health and safety or quality. Ashley Cooper, the onsite project manager, says that while success at the industry and international awards was a significant achievement for all involved, he felt the primary reward was from the local communities, who were extremely appreciative that they had been reconnected in time for Christmas. “It was such an important project to them, and they had made the teams feel incredibly welcome throughout the project. Everybody was so aligned that they had to have that road opened as soon as possible. Even the original completion date of March was pretty ambitious, and to shave another three months off was spectacular.” Ashley also praised the Fulton Hogan McConnell Dowell team members, who had been such a huge part of the project’s success, saying that right from the start everybody was focused on the outcome and what had to be achieved. “It was awesome to be part of this project. I was like a jockey on a thoroughbred racehorse. The team took off and I just had to tweak and steer them.” SH25A Taparahi between Kōpū and Hikuai suffered significant damage with the road collapsing after two major storm events in January 2023. In total, 120 metres of bush-clad roadway was destroyed, causing inaccessibility, extra travel time and costs, limited access to healthcare and education, impacts to freight, businesses, tourism and disruption of day-today life. New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) led the project to re-instate SH25A with technical assistance from consultants Beca for site conditions, with the construction of a 124m-long, 11m-wide, by 15m-high bridge chosen as the preferred option. Following a tender process, Fulton Hogan/ McConnell Dowell JV was accepted as the design and build contractor, utilising Tonkin + Taylor, and Beca as a joint design team. “Initially, we had to stabilise the slip with drains and cement to create enough of a working platform, to be able to get the heavy machinery into position to build the bridge,’ Ashley explains. “That work took half the programme time. During that time, offsite fabrication was ongoing in parallel, but the assembly of the structure onsite only took four months. The east abutment was accessible off what was left of the road and we were able to overlap the start of the piling operation with the stabilisation.” NEW ZEALAND’S TRUSTED DRILLING SPECIALIST • Geotechnical • Environmental • Geothermal • Sample • Water Well Drilling 0800 326 375 www.dcndrilling.co.nz PH 0800 FIRTH 1 FIRTH.CO.NZ NZ’s Trusted Name in Concrete.
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