The progress on Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatu-Tararua Highway, looking towards Woodville, where culverts are being installed. Photo / Waka Kotahi footage.
The progress on Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatu-Tararua Highway, looking towards Woodville, where culverts are being installed. Photo / Waka Kotahi footage.
If you’re travelling from Woodville to Palmerston North you might notice some big things happening along the way.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is making great progress on the Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatu-Tararua highway with pipe culverts being installed at the Woodville end.
Working on the Woodville end, installing culverts. Photo / Leanne Warr
According to the drone footage, workers are installing a number of these culverts as part of the work on the eastern roundabout at the junction of Woodlands Rd and State Highway 3.
It’s hoped this will be completed along with utility relocation by the end of January where they’ll then move on to the bulk earthworks and pavements in due course.
A Waka Kotahi spokesman said significant progress continued to be made on earthworks, structures and planting works.
There had been some challenges - some engineering, some environmental and some workforce, but a total of 4.5 million cubic metres of earth had been moved since construction began in January 2021.
He said that was more than two thirds of the total earthworks of 6 million cubic metres.
Landscaping teams had finished their second planting season with almost 500,000 plants in the ground and planting on the alignment itself would start in the 2022/23 season.
Work was also progressing on the six structures across the site and the first pier of Parahaki Bridge, across the Manawatu River was completed, with work on the two remaining piers well under way.
Fill 9 is the largest of the project. Photo / Waka Kotahi footage
The spokesman said the project had faced its fair share of challenges since the start of construction.
“Like all major projects, the pandemic has had a considerable impact on workforce.”
Key materials had also been delayed due to lockdowns and that also contributed to scheduling delays, he said.
Tararua District Council mayor Tracey Collis said she had seen the raw footage and was happy to see it being shared on social media.
“They’ve done a great job of keeping people updated.”
She said it was great to see the volume of work now on the Woodville side.
A Walk the Highway event has been planned for next month and those participating would be in for a “real treat”, Collis said.
She added those working on the project were a “real credit” to themselves as they’d faced a number of challenges through the two years of the project and had met every one.
The project was more than just a highway and they had made some great inroads in terms of social outcomes.
