CCNZ / HIREPOOL CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2015
Still waters run deep
in Central Otago irrigation scheme A best-of-breed irrigation scheme completed in November 2014 means there’s now more than enough water to go around for client shareholders in the small central Otago farming settlement of Tarras.
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CATEGORY
PROJECT: Tarras Irrigation Scheme, Otago CONTRACTOR: Maungatua Contracting
22 Civil Contractors NZ in association with Contractor magazine
T
he Tarras Irrigation Scheme takes water from the Clutha River at a rate of 830 litres a second and pumps it through a network of pipes to supply a number of agricultural demand points. Valued at $3.66 million, the contract for the scheme was awarded to Wanaka-based Maungatua Contracting – a family business with over 50 years’ experience in civil construction and earthworks. Maungatua Contracting was tasked with completing the whole kit and caboodle – covering design, planning, consents, supply and construction, earthworks and commissioning. This was no small task, but the firm approached things with relish and enthusiasm. The scale of the newly minted Tarras Irrigation Scheme can best be described as immense. Involving the construction of a 74,200 cubic metre reservoir, the project saw kilometres of piping installed across five privately owned farms and four public road crossings. Eight and a half kilometres of power cabling was also installed. Split into eight stages, construction of the vast earthen reservoir was first cab off the rank. Shortly after, the scheme’s
