Hirepool Construction Awards winners announced

Media Release

9 August 2010

Hirepool Construction Awards winners announced

From an urban sewer renewal to a multi-million dollar harbour link, winners of the Hirepool Construction Awards 2010 reflect the excellence of New Zealand’s civil construction industry.

This year’s winners of the awards, organised by the New Zealand Contractors’ Federation, also include replacing a busy Chatham Island fishing wharf and a new approach to clearing a contaminated stream bed.

Federation executive officer Malcolm Abernethy said that judges had faced a tough job selecting winners from a record field of entries, all of a very high standard.

“Although the industry has been hard hit by the recession, New Zealand contractors have maintained their extremely high standards,” he said. “The innovative approaches developed and the results achieved demonstrate the commitment and quality of the industry in New Zealand.”

The awards have four categories, recognising excellence in civil construction projects carried out by New Zealand companies at home or abroad, with budgets ranging from below $500,000 to multi-million dollar schemes.

This year there were two winners in Category Four, for projects with a value greater than $20m.

Fletcher Macdow Joint Venture took honours for the $114m Project Hobson while Fletcher Construction also won for the $130m Tauranga Harbour Link - Stage 2.

Project Hobson, a Fletcher Construction, McConnell Dowell Constructors joint venture for Watercare Services, entailed replacing the unsightly 90-year-old main sewer pipeline across Auckland’s Orakei Bay with a three kilometer long tunnel, pump station and drop shafts.

The Tauranga Harbour Link, carried out by Fletcher Construction for the New Zealand Transport Agency, was technically complex and had to be carried out with minimal impact on the 36,000 vehicles which use the site daily as well as extensive pedestrian, cyclist, fishing and boating traffic.

Winner of Category Three for projects valued between $5m and $20m was Brian Perry Civil for the groundbreaking Waiwhetu Stream Remediation in Wellington.

The $11m project, carried out for Greater Wellington Regional Council, was the first time heavy plant had been used to clear a river bed of contaminated industrial material in an urban zone.
Category Two, for projects between $500,000 and $5m, was won by Hunter Civil for the Owenga Wharf Replacement in the Chatham Islands.

The $1.6m project for the Chatham Island Council successfully replaced a wharf which is vital for the local fishing fleet and provides an important link between the Chatham and Pitt islands.

Winner of Category One, for projects with a value of below $500,000, was Construction Contracts Ltd for the $450,000 Rangiora Sewer Renewal in Wellington on behalf of Wellington City Council.

With the sewer situated at the bottom of one of the capital’s notoriously steep streets, the company erected a temporary flying fox to carry materials into the work area. With no access for machinery, all excavation had to be carried out manually but the project was delivered to a high quality standard, on time and within the agreed budget.

Clements Contractors won a Merit Award in Category One for the Paradise Point Shore Protection project, carried out for Whangarei District Council. The $150,000 project entailed working only at low tide, removing existing timber walls before importing sand and rock to reconstruct Paradise Point and provide wave protection.

The team of judges, all highly experienced members of the civil construction industry, visited all the finalist projects.

Categories One, Two and Three were judged by retired contractor Barry Coombes from Hamilton and Graeme Blackley, founder of Blackley Construction of Palmerston North, which is currently celebrating fifty years in business.

Judges for Category Four were consultant Ian Bond from Blenheim and BECA engineer Richard Aitken from Auckland.

Winners were announced at the New Zealand Contractors’ Federation’s annual conference in Nelson on August 7.

ENDS

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