30 | Securing Timaru city’s main water supply The pipeline renewal is a three stage project with sections one and three being completed and commissioned in 2022. Timaru District Council: Pareora Pipeline T T Kelly Deeks REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTACT US 03 687 8004 | email@gressons.co.nz | www.gressons.co.nz Infrastructure Local Government / Public Works Resource Management Property & Conveyancing Proud to provide legal support to Timaru District Council Timaru District Council’s Pareora pipeline renewal project is making good progress despite challenging weather conditions and difficult ground conditions causing slight delays and putting the expected completion date of the project at September 2024. The Pareora pipeline renewal is a series of major physical works undertaken to secure Timaru city’s main water supply, while protecting internationally significant cultural heritage. Running approximately 37km from the Upper Pareora Gorge in the Mackenzie District to Claremont on the edge of Timaru, this critical piece of infrastructure passes through areas of cultural significance to mana whenua, and New Zealand’s highest concentration of extant Maori rock art. Installed in the 1930s, the Pareora pipeline is a critical component of the Timaru water supply, providing the bulk transfer of raw water from the Pareora River intake to the Claremont water treatment plant and storage reservoirs. This source provides approximately 60% of water consumed in the Timaru supply on an annual basis. Numerous sections of the pipeline were in poor condition and leaking. The renewal of the pipeline is necessary to ensure continuity of the Timaru water supply and to minimize water loss. Timaru District Council Principals Three Waters Specialist Grant Hall says the pipeline renewal is a three stage project with sections one and three being completed and commissioned in 2022. The most technically challenging section two through the gorge is still underway by Hadlee and Brunton. They are working in steep and undulating terrain with arable and mixed stock farmland. “The existing 90-year-old pipeline is still an impressive bit of engineering, as it transports “While the whole job is challenging, getting the water through the gorge was particularly difficult.” water from the river intake, through the gorge and all the way to Timaru without needing pumps,” Grant says. “While the whole job is challenging, getting the water through the gorge was particularly difficult, so while the majority of the pipeline will be new, we’re also adopting an innovative liner technology to reuse the current pipe. Our forebears knew what they were doing, and they picked the best route through the gorge, so we’d be foolish to abandon it. The proven liner technology enables us to continue benefiting from this route, while ensuring the pipe is good for decades to come and lessens our impact on a culturally significant area.” Recent progress on section two includes completion of the Wetlands Stage near its west end. Then an urgent watermain upgrade required in Timaru meant resources had to be diverted and the project’s completion date pushed out by several months. About 2440m of 4.3km of pipeline has to date been either lined or replaced by open cut excavation. 2140m has been lined with the Amex pressure lining system, while 300m of open cut excavation used DN450 PE100 PN10 pipe through a wetland and an area with an active slip zone. A further 1865m of lining is scheduled to be installed from March through to September 2024. This timeline is weather dependent however the contractor and the Council have been able to accelerate the programme by arranging longer shutdowns of the main and relying on Timaru’s alternative source of water supply. Industrial Controls are proud to support Timaru District Council - Pareroa Pipeline
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