Construction Contracts

CATEGORY 1: Projects with a value of less than $1 million

Leaving backyards better than you found them

When you are working on private property it adds another dimension to the building challenge.

Construction Contracts (CCL) was awarded the contract and works for the Brentwood Street (Upper Hutt) Sewer Stage 2 Wastewater Renewal after Cardno, the engineer, was appointed by Wellington Water to design and provide construction management services for an upgrade to the existing wastewater main in the area. The eight-week project contract started on-site in February 2016 and was completed in April (a few days early) and was valued at around $300,000. The public sewer serving properties from Brentwood Street and Ferguson Drive was old, CATEGORY showing signs of root infestation, flat grades 1 FINALIST and did not have an optimal alignment. The opportunity was taken to renew and realign this local drain through private property, as well as completing a significant public main upgrade in Brentwood Street, Upper Hutt. A particular difficulty with this contract was working in private property. “Working in private property is never easy and presents a completely different set of challenges to a typical construction site,” says the company. “We had to try and minimise disruption to the owners and neighbours and also maintain access [pedestrian and vehicle] throughout the duration of the contract works.

“We had to break a few eggs to make an omelette but the properties have been left better than when we arrived. Established gardens and plantings look great. The new asphalt, grassed lawns and landscaping looks great and the overall appearance is to a high standard. By our unofficial count five dozen beers were given by the grateful residents to our workers on site.

“The most technically demanding drain-laying was the deep excavations for the 300 sewer in Brentwood Street. Excavations were up to three metres deep in relatively poor ground conditions. We had to over pump the live sewer main. Deep excavations are highly dangerous and we managed the risks by careful planning and the use of our K100 positive shoring system.”

This project won the 2016 Civil Contractors New Zealand Wellington/Wairarapa Construction Award Category A for contracts valued up to $1 million. l