Though the wet winter months will provide some challenges for the Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway Alliance team, there is still plenty of work to do across the alignment during this time.
One of the most affected teams is the project's earthworks crews, who get the majority of their work done in the drier summer months. However, they will continue to move earth whenever weather permits, following the approval of the project's winter works consent by Horizons Regional Council.
![Environmental worker Thomas Josephson and Adam Hynes, from Horizons, by a sediment control pond.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/SK2NGSGE77Y37TT6APBROFB5LA.jpg?auth=a40eea1cb99be9e1e59a009daadbb78826b067fe0a3ae611eafaf1ef9600fed3&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Winter works consents are common practice on infrastructural projects featuring significant earthworks, such as Te Ahu a Turanga, which has a total of six million cubic metres of earth to be moved over its duration.
The consent allows for certain earthworks activity to take place over winter, with appropriate measures in place to prevent erosion and maintain sediment controls during times of increased rainfall.