50 | CONTRACTING Schick Civil Construction 0800 HAPTIX haptix.co.nz Pleased to have worked alongside Schick Civil Construction Ltd to bring Peacocke Drive to life. Walkway and Cycleway Infrastructure + Civil Structures + Heli and Crane Logistics + Hard and Soft Landscaping + admin@keirprojects.nz KeirProjectsNZ 021 640 894 37 Settlement Road, Cambridge 3495, New Zealand We specialize in designing and building innovative technical structures and landscapes that seamlessly integrate functionality with aesthetics. We collaborate with clients and our partners to create tailored solutions for both urban and natural environments. T T Russell Fredric Peacocke project scoops top award The project required substantial plant and careful coordination, including two cranes for a tandem lift of the bridge beams. Schick Civil Construction has won the 2026 Civil Contractors New Zealand Waikato Supreme Award for its work on the Whatukooruru Drive Stage 3 project in Peacocke, Hamilton. The $20 million-plus project also won the Category 5 award, recognising its scale and complexity. Contract Manager Jarrod Richards says the recognition added to a project the Schick team had already regarded as a great success. “There was an element of pride there. It was already recognised internally and across the board as a successful project regardless of the outcome of the awards.” Schick’s involvement in Peacocke stretches back about five years to the construction of a roundabout on Ohaupo Road and State Highway 3, which provided the first access into the development area. Various stages followed, with Schick later returning to tender for Whatukooruru Drive Stage 3. The company was awarded the contract in July 2024 and began work on September 23. As head contractor, Schick delivered the earthworks, drainage, three-waters infrastructure and pavements, coordinating a range of specialist subcontractors and suppliers. Brian Perry Civil undertook the bridge construction and piling, while Keir Projects worked on the abutments, mechanically stabilized earth walls, landscaping and other elements. Higgins Waikato carried out the surfacing and asphalt, with Church’s Custom Concrete delivering footpaths and Waikato Construction undertaking kerbing. The project required substantial plant and careful coordination, including two cranes for a tandem lift of the bridge beams; a 450-tonne crane and a 250-tonne crane worked together to position the beams. Schick had more than five 20-tonne machines on site at one point, supported by trucks and trailers moving spoil and imported material. A major challenge was sequencing the earthworks and bridge construction so both could progress without one holding up the other. Multiple teams and subcontractors were working simultaneously, requiring close management of the interfaces between different parts of the project. “The key part was around managing programme and interfaces. There were earthworks going on, and a key part of the project was enabling the bridge construction to continue while the civil work happened around it or either side of the bridge.” The first summer was particularly important. Schick needed to complete substantial earthworks and install preloads either side of the bridge before Christmas 2024, allowing the ground to consolidate before permanent works continued. Preloading involved placing fill and additional material over the existing ground and monitoring settlement. Because the consolidation process takes time and cannot simply be accelerated, completing it early reduced programme risk and allowed the project to take shape through the following year. “That really ultimately set the project up for success that first summer. If we hadn’t had that big push up front and that preparation ready to hit the ground running, then I don’t think the project would have been a success to what it has been.” Health and safety was another measure of the project’s performance, with no lost-time injuries or major health and safety incidents recorded. Complex safety requirements were managed through documentation and bringing the appropriate people together to address issues as they arose. The project was one of the two largest by value in Schick’s history and represented an opportunity to work on a bridge and piling scope that is not normally a major part of its work. Its success has reinforced relationships developed through previous Hamilton projects, while the award recognises the combined effort of Schick, its subcontractors, consultants and Hamilton City Council. “It was a team effort through the project.” Schick’s current workload includes Te Awa Lakes, Hamilton’s first master-planned riverside community, housing development stages for Waikato-Tainui at Hopuhopu, and projects for private developers and council entities around the Waikato.
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