Kris Croft: 542 metre feat of engineering

On Saturday 29 February, the Lyttelton Wastewater Work Package 4 project team successfully completed a major milestone in the project, by pulling 542m of 355mm PE pipeline under Ferry Road and the Heathcote River, Christchurch.

This project is the final section of the Lyttelton Wastewater Scheme. The project includes the installation of 4.8km of wastewater pipeline through Heathcote Valley, connecting to Pump Station 15 in Woolston’s Alport Place. Once complete, all Lytteltons Harbour’s wastewater will be redirected to the main Christchurch wastewater treatment plant in Bromley. This will help improve the health of our harbour for current and future generations to enjoy.

Led by project manager John O’Donoghue, the team have been planning the works for just under a year. Specialist subcontractors Hadlee and Brunton were chosen to complete the horizontal directional drill under the Heathcote River, Ferrymead roundabout and along Ferry Road to Alport Place. Hadlee and Brunton operate the largest drilling equipment in New Zealand and are equipped with a team of highly skilled individuals.

The pipe pull was completed in a one-night shift. The pipe was pre-welded and tested in the paddocks parallel to Tunnel Road. On the night, the pipeline was pulled up onto Tunnel Road, across the roundabout and along Ferry Road to Johns Street. From here, the pipe was attached to the reamer and pulled back through the pre-drilled hole under Ferry Road. The team finished the works four hours ahead of schedule.

Project manager John O’Donoghue says, “I am delighted that after all our pre-planning and advanced enabling works that it all came together on the night.

As this was a contractor design element of the project it had several design challenges, which all needed to be addressed and approved months in advance.

The team made up of several subcontractors, including Hadlee and Brunton, and our own three waters drainage team, and was supported by many other Fulton Hogan staff who sacrificed their Saturday night to help.

It’s always great to see smiling faces at the end of a job well done, even if that is 5am!”