Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū-Tararua Highway project’s third construction season draws to a close

The much-anticipated form traveller in place on Pier 1 on Parahaki Bridge.

OPINION

Significant milestones have been achieved on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū-Tararua Highway, as the project’s third construction season draws to a close at the end of September.

On the earthworks front, the project moved its six millionth cubic metre of earth in September, which means the bulk earthworks target has been reached. For some context, six million cubic metres of earth would fill Auckland’s Eden Park five times.

The remaining 300,000 million cubic metres of earth is planned to be finished by the end of the year. Achieving this mammoth total is due to the incredibly hard work of all the contributing Alliance partners, subcontractors and suppliers.

Another big milestone has been reached on the Parahaki Bridge - the 300-metre-long structure crossing the Manawatū River - with the much-anticipated installation of the form traveller.

Visitors to Te Āpiti - Manawatū Gorge can see this blue and orange frame assembled on Pier 1, from which the first sections of the superstructure (the part of the bridge the road goes on) will be built.

Over the river at Eco-Viaduct Bridge, the 12th and final column is in the ground, and 30 steel beams are now in place on the piers.

The remaining 12 beams will be installed by November 2023 to complete the seven spans on this bridge. Pre-cast concrete panels for the bridge deck are being installed from the northern end of the bridge.

Another exciting aspect of construction of the highway is the project’s impressive landscaping programme, which has seen more than one million plants put in the ground since the start of construction.

The millionth plant, a manoao (silver pine), was planted by the project’s longest-serving landscaper, Louie Trasporto, in September. Louie is estimated to have planted more than 250,000 plants.

The landscaping programme is now more than halfway complete, with a total of 1.8 million plants to be put in the ground by the end of 2024.

For more information about the project, head to www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/te-ahu-a-turanga/ or visit the Woodville Community Library and Information Centre for the latest flyover, project updates and the Drive the Highway simulator.