‘Spectacular’ day at new wharf

Hundreds turned out on Saturday to take up the Eastland Port invitation to check out the new Wharf 7. Among them, and getting close to a big piece of machinery , were, from left, Reeva Rogers 3, Elena Wakefield 6 and Bianca Wakefield, 4. Picture by Liam Clayton

Eastland Port’s ‘Wharf Wheels’ event to celebrate the completion of the new Wharf 7 project was a huge success on Saturday with many hundreds of people involved.

Eastland Port Chief Operating Officer Regional Infrastructure Andrew Gaddum said they had a “spectacular” day.

“We had over 1400 people exploring the new wharf, watching the ship being loaded and getting up close to some machinery.

“The highlight of the day was the tugboat ballet where Maki and Ika Nui performed in front of the crowd, operating just a mere few metres off the wharf’s edge,” Mr Gaddum said.

“It was great to be able to invite the community on to the port to experience something unique and put some smiles on people’s faces after a few years of Covid disruptions and more recently with the cyclones.”

The Wharf 7 rebuild was an innovative design built by McConnell Dowell which took 18 months.

“It has been built into a vital and resilient lifeline asset that will support Tairāwhiti’s growing exports for generations to come,” Mr Gaddum said.

“It will also be capable of withstanding a one-in-2500-year earthquake event, providing significant regional resilience in the event of a natural disaster.

“Special thanks to our event partners McConnell Dowell and ProTraffic for helping make this day happen.”