SH20B Early Improvements

Necessity inspires both invention – and cooperation

PROJECT: SH20B Early Improvements CONTRACTOR: Fulton Hogan CLIENT: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Auckland International Airport VALUE: $76.6m

With supply chain-based delays now almost a daily fact of life, project teams are having to innovate around such roadblocks to bring projects in on time, safely.

There is no better example of this than the SH20B Early Improvements project (SH20B). A vital link between Auckland City and the world (a key route to Auckland International Airport), the project had the immovable deadlines of the 36th America’s Cup and APEC 2021 Leaders’ Week, yet a timeline reduced by a third.

Understanding they needed to think and act differently, the project team made urgency the project’s greatest asset.

This clarity focused all parties – clients, designers, contractors, and

subcontractors – on how to achieve something that, at face value and in normal times, would have seemed impossible. The result was an unprecedented collaboration that redefined the project’s planning and execution for an accelerated works programme and a new level 85 4CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2022 CCNZ / HIREPOOL of productivity – and achieving the original March 2021 completion date. Of more long-lasting significance, the experience provides the wider industry with a blueprint for fast-tracking projects without compromising safety or quality. SH20B shows that collaboration need not be just a buzz word. It can be the catalyst for setting a new benchmark in efficiency, time saving, quality and safety.