Judges comments

Celebrating Construction Excellence

CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2016 WINNERS

We thank the awards judges: Category 1, 2 and 5, Dave Macdonald and Paul Bishop; Category 3 and 4, Steve Hart and Alan Powell. Their comments on the winning entries are summarised below.

Category 1: Projects with a value of less than $1 million. WINNER: Groundfix for Waterview Tunnel – Cross Passage Drilling

and Pressure Grouting

The Waterview Tunnel is a $1.4 billion project being delivered for the NZ Government by the NZ Transport Agency and a consortium of contractors working as the “Well Connected Alliance”.

During the first tunnel drive, high ground water flows were experienced near the tunnel midpoint where cross passages were to be constructed. Work within the cross tunnel passages during excavation and lining processes would have been extremely difficult without a reduction of these ground water flows.

A project to drill through the tunnel lining to within 300 mm of the adjacent tunnel wall and pressure grout the rock fissures between the tunnels was entrusted to Groundfix. Grouting through carefully sequenced patterns of drill holes with specially designed grouts successfully sealed out the water allowing for the construction of the required cross passages.

Groundfix performed this work in a timely, efficient and businesslike way, working with the client to reduce cost and perform the work in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Working and safety conditions within the tunnel were especially rigorous but Groundfix was able to comply with these at all times to produce the required result. The work was completed ahead of time with twice the number of cross tunnel passages sealed to what was originally envisaged.

The client spoke particularly highly of Groundfix’s collaborative approach, and was very pleased with the work they carried out for the Alliance.

Category 2: Projects with a value between $1 million and $10 million WINNER: McConnell Dowell for Waitaki Erosion Remediation

Meridian Energy is upgrading this power station to give it another 80 years of life. McConnell Dowell were engaged through a D&C process using NEC3 to resolve erosion problems on the right bank and sluice pier while the station maintained its full power generation.

Through all phases from planning to delivery McConnell Dowell engaged fully with the client and used very robust and well thought through processes to identify and manage the risks around working within an operating station, managing the difficulties and challenges of construction and in ensuring the quality required was delivered.

Access was challenging especially for the sluice pier works as there was no ability to work from within the river due to limited time being available to clear the site under emergency opening of the sluice wall. Meridian adopted McConnell Dowell’s proposal to change the concept design for the sluice pier to one requiring the installation of a high lift fixed crane on the pier and to construct an interlocking drilled pile curtain wall fully encasing the pier to eliminate erosion of the underlying unprotected ground.

A very detailed plan measured (and re-measured) with precision allowed craneage to occur for construction which included very complex temporary works.

From design to construction, safety was a key focus for the whole team and with constant attention the rewards of an incident free site were obtained.

The client was very pleased with the outcome and on time delivery.

Category 3: Projects with a value between $10 million and $50 million WINNER: HEB Construction for Wero Whitewater Park

The Wero Whitewater Park project by HEB Construction again exemplifies what can be achieved when client and contractor have trust in one another to work collaboratively to develop a project solution for a “first in the country” project combining both their talents with those of numerous consultants and suppliers to achieve a world standard outcome.

This project for the Second Nature Charitable Trust involved the development of a world-class whitewater facility with a short course able to be used as a recreational facility by the general public and a long course with the capacity to be used for Olympic level canoe and kayak slalom events.

The success of this ECI project is a tribute to both the Trust, for its foresight in seeing the potential for such a facility, HEB Construction for applying its expertise and project management capability and the specialist consultants and suppliers who provided their knowledge, equipment and experience on a “Best for Project” basis. HEB needed to ensure the outputs from the client’s six specialist consultants, their own five design and construct subcontracts and their self-performed works were melded into a final successful result.

Category 4: Projects with a value greater than $50 million WINNER: Downer NZ for Holcim Cement Terminals

The Holcim Import Cement Terminals are a fine example of client, contractor and consultant collaboratively working together with specialist offshore suppliers to successfully implement new and unique technology in the construction of cement storage facilities in New Zealand.

This project by Downer for Holcim NZ involved construction of two new cement import terminals located at Auckland and Timaru.

The ECI (Early Contractor Involvement) approach to the project is a tribute to Holcim. It was critical in allowing the client and contractor to work together in selecting the specialist dome and aerated floor suppliers and to fully understand construction risks and optimise the design while determining the contract price and a realistic construction programme.

The judges were impressed with the level of planning undertaken to implement the unique features on this project and with the collaborative approach between clients contractors and consultants, which is a testament to the industry today.

In a tightly contested category, the judges congratulate the Downer team on their winning entry and particularly on completing both terminals with zero harm incidents.

Category 5: Excellence in the maintenance and management of assets WINNER: Auckland Motorway Alliance (AMA) for Maintenance of Assets

The Auckland Motorway Alliance is an organisation created from the NZ Transport Agency, Fulton Hogan, Beca, OPUS International, Resolve Group and Armitage Systems. All parties work in a truly collaborative environment to maintain the Auckland motorway system and refine services provided to motorway users.

Starting in 2008 the Alliance has worked to constantly refine and improve systems and methodologies resulting in reducing costs while maintaining or improving levels of service. Decisions and strategies are collectively formulated and agreed. Target outturn costs for each three year period are agreed between the Alliance members and a client elected specialist organisation.

The judges were impressed with the collective thinking of the group who have a common aim to keep the motorways in Auckland moving as efficiently as possible. Ideas and innovations are shared and actively distributed across other areas of the roads network so the Alliance is working, not only for their own betterment, but also for the improvement of the whole New Zealand roading system.

The Alliance is an excellent example of what can be achieved to improve efficiencies and service levels through strategic thinking and collaboration while still responding to the needs of motorway users.