DAVID UNWIN/Things
Waka Kotahi owner interface manager Grant Kauri is on the Fill 9 site. The alignment of the road is visible as it curves up the hill to a gully and then to Manawatū.
It is difficult to estimate how much progress has been made on the new four-lane section of State Highway 3 between Ashhurst and Woodville.
Most passing motorists may only get a few glimpses of the Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatū-Tararua Highway workshop at either end as they make their way up the temporary Saddle Road.
But behind the hills, the beginnings of a state-of-the-art road is beginning to take shape.
The highway is on track to be completed by December 2024, despite a winter of severe weather.
READ MORE:
* Highway works enter the winter construction season
* Manawatū Gorge replacement highway takes shape
* More slips and cracks in unstable spot in Manawatū Gorge
DAVID UNWIN/Things
The weather was wet, but the highway should be ready in 2024.
That was made abundantly clear as stuff toured the site on a wet and stormy Monday afternoon.
“For the entire project, we expect to move 6 million m³ of soil and so far we have moved 3.3 million m³,” said Waka Kotahi, owner interface manager Grant Kauri.
“This season alone, we aim to move 2.8 million m, and we have already moved 2.6 million m³. So only 200,000 to go.”
However, Kauri said the impact of Covid-19 was still being felt across the site.
“With the current Covid peak, it has had an impact not only on us as an isolation management project, but it also has an effect on our supply chain.
DAVID UNWIN/Things
The first of three pillars for the Parahaki Bridge over the Manawatū River is taking shape. Each pier will carry all four lanes.
“So for us our target is still 2024 and we will assess that as we go along.”
The evidence was clear at Cut 13 about the project.
Where two slopes were roughly flat, a 55-meter-deep trench had been carved. While the asphalt laying was out for a while, it was clear to see where the road would go when it was finished.
Swinging between the wind turbines of the Te Āpiti wind farm, motorists were greeted with a panoramic view of the plains of Manawatū.
DELIVERED/Stuff
The highway will have a dual carriageway and is designed for freight, trucks and slow-moving vehicles.
And across the river at the Ashhurst end of the road is Parahaki Bridge; a balanced cantilever bridge that will be one of the widest in the Southern Hemisphere.
“If you are familiar with Transmission Gully, especially the part where it rises from Paekākariki, this is what this road will look like. It’s the same gradient,” said Kauri
“So the alignment was designed with freight in mind and it’s also why we’re building a four-lane highway so motorists can pass trucks and other slow-moving vehicles.”
DAVID UNWIN/Things
Site supervisor Robert Graves says this winter has been unusually wet.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing this year. While work was still on schedule, site manager Robert Graves said it had been an exceptionally wet winter.
While they had up to 300 employees on site, the number was much lower on Monday.
“The boys are still in the wet pouring concrete, but we only have about 36 on this section.
“The earthworks were working until about 1pm, but the rain just did. On this section it’s just not safe to continue in the wet, so they went home.”
DAVID UNWIN/Things
The last earth-moving trucks are ready, as work on Fill Site 9 comes to a standstill due to bad weather.
Kauri said the teams would work on wet days and come over the weekend if necessary to get it done.
The new route replaced the old Manawatū Gorge road which was closed in 2017 after multiple slips caused it to be deemed unsafe and subsequently condemned.
The new road is designed as a more sustainable replacement for travelers between Manawatū, Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa.