Amazing NZ Infrastructure Projects Celebrated At National Awards

Winning infrastructure construction companies celebrated long into the weekend following the presentation of the 45th Civil Contractors New Zealand Hirepool Construction Excellence Awards, with projects including high-voltage cables, scenic bridges, emergency transport maintenance and major motorways taking home awards.

Held at the Bill Richardson Transport Museum in Invercargill on 16 August as part of The Civil Contractors Conference, the awards celebrated the best of New Zealand’s civil infrastructure construction projects, spanning the length of the country.

Abseil Access showed suspension bridge supremacy in Taranaki with the Manganui Gorge Bridge taking out the award for projects up to $2m. Traversing a deep gorge to on the slopes of Mount Taranaki, the bridge promises to become a tourist destination in its own right.

Waiotahi Contractors was a hometown hero in this year’s awards, taking out category 2 for projects between $2m and $5m with a demonstration of civil construction excellence, reconstructing the Landing Road Roundabout to enhance the gateway to Whakatāne.

Isaac Construction won the category for projects between $5m and $20m with the installation of a 7.5km 66kv electricity line between Bromley Station and Milton Station in Christchurch through busy urban road corridors, including a 1.5km section of state highway.

The State Highway 25a Taparahi Slip Remediation was a joint venture between Fulton Hogan and McConnell Dowell. Winning top project between $20m and $100m, the team and subcontractors demonstrated outstanding collaboration and efficiency, completing a major slip remediation and bridge reconstruction in just seven months. Soil stabilisation subcontractor Geovert was also an awards finalist for its part in the successful project.

The Ara Tūhono - Puhoi to Warkworth Motorway won the category for projects over $100m. This Fletcher - Acciona Joint Venture design and build construction contract saw more than 10 million cubic meters of earthworks delivered through a pandemic and extreme weather to provide a safe, sustainable and resilient motorway north of Auckland.

Tararua Alliance – a joint initiative between Downer and Tararua District Council to maintain the region’s roading and water networks – took out the award for the management and maintenance of assets. Normally conducting around $5m of work per annum, this escalated to an estimated $90m of work due a massive rise in emergency response to slips.

All award categories were hotly contested, with the running so close that several entries were highly commended by the judges. In Category 1, Isaac Construction’s Waihola Underpass under SH1 provided an ingenious solution that prevented traffic disruption. The project saw a temporary road constructed to reduce traffic management costs while the underpass was installed.

Brian Perry Civil was commended for a Hobson Bay cliff stabilisation following a massive slip that put several properties at risk, and also for a complex underground urban pump station installed under Wellington’s Taranaki Street that required complex logistical planning.

Hawke’s Bay featured too, with United Civil Construction commended for the team’s rapid reconstruction of a significant rail bridge on the Palmerston North to Gisborne line destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle. McConnell Dowell’s work to maintain and refurbish the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant rounded out the project commendations.

John and Leonie Hynds received life membership of Civil Contractors New Zealand for fifty years of extensive support for the association, first as contractor members and then as suppliers, while equipment supplier Youngman Richardson won the Major Associate Award. National Excavator Operator Competition organiser and Manawatu Whanganui Branch Chair Greg Lumsden also received a CCNZ Service Award for his efforts.

Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard said this year’s projects showed what was possible when projects were well planned and civil contractors were commissioned with a focus on collaboration and delivering value.

The projects and the teams and companies that have worked to construct them deserved recognition for the benefits their work will bring us for decades to come, Mr Pollard said.

“Contractors work extremely hard to construct and maintain New Zealand’s transport, water, energy and other infrastructure networks. I congratulate all the winners, our awards finalists, and everyone in the industry for what has been achieved.

“These projects are exemplars of what’s possible when civil contractors, designers, clients and communities work together with the vision, licence and focus to meet the country’s infrastructure needs and overcome all the challenges the world has to throw at us.”

Hirepool celebrated 20 years as CCNZ’s Principal Business Partner at the awards. Gary Richardson, General Manager at Hirepool, said the accolades celebrated the ground-breaking skill and ingenuity New Zealand’s civil construction industry had to offer.

“Hirepool is behind civil contractors, all the way. And we now have 20 years of history, working with CCNZ to support the industry as Principal Business Partner.

“The work contractors do never ceases to amaze, whether it’s constructing bridges halfway up a mountain by helicopter, connecting people with power and fresh water or responding to emergencies to restore communities. This year’s winners have done us all proud.”

Civil Contractors New Zealand also celebrated 80 years of history as a national association over the course of the conference, which spanned 14-16 August and looked to explore the past, present and future of New Zealand’s infrastructure construction industry.

Details of the winning projects, this year's 33 finalists, and the more than 50 project entries are described in this year’s CCNZ Hirepool Construction Excellence Awards Book.

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