CCNZ / HIREPOOL CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2016
CATEGORY 2: Projects with a value between $1 million and $10 million
Rehabilitating river bank slopes
T
he central section of Hamilton’s popular river walk/ cycleway, running from one end of the city to the other, had slumped down towards the Waikato River. This big section of Hamilton city’s river walkway had been unpassable for a couple of years. In May 2014 the council looked at a new design, which was tendered and awarded to Schick Construction & Cartage. Work started in June 2014 and involved rehabilitation of failed river bank slopes and the placement of a timber boardwalk across a section of the slump. A second area of the slump required a large retaining wall to be constructed. It was a complex and technically challenging job, the scope of which increased CATEGORY dramatically due to unforeseen problems and circumstances, and was overlaid with significant political issues due to its high profile, says Schick. The initial tender was for the Bryce Street North section repair of the river FINALIST walk. The scope of these works was to stabilise the northern slope with 1170 soil nails and 450 square metres of rock mesh and
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coconut matting, as well as stormwater drainage to the river to prevent slips and slumping. This was followed by building a 22 metre timber boardwalk over the newly stabilised slip. During the construction of the northern section, the Claudelands section of work was priced and added to the original contract. This consisted of further slope stability from the river up to the underside of the pile cap on the Claudelands traffic bridge and the upgrade of the drainage in the area. While these works were continuing, the section of walkway between the Claudelands Bridge and the Bryce Street north site (Bryce Street South) was purchased by Hamilton City Council; this allowed construction in this area to begin. This work involved soil nailing and the stability of the slip face, followed by the construction of a three metre high retaining wall out over the face. The whole project was completed in February 2015 and the walkway opened to the public the same month at a final contract value of $1,573,000. “This project, while extremely challenging, has left an end result that everyone involved can be very proud of,” says Schick. l
PROJECT: Waikato River Walkway Reconstruction, Bryce Street Hamilton. CONTRACTOR: Schick Construction & Cartage
20 Civil Contractors NZ in association with Contractor magazine
