Watercare New Zealand is to begin work on a new NZ$115 million project to upgrade wastewater services running through the midtown area of Auckland.
The midtown project forms a part of Watercare’s NZ$13.8 billion new infrastructure program to be delivered over the next 10 years.
The work will be carried out in two stages. The first phase will involve a tunnel boring machine laying a new wastewater pipe underneath Queen St from a shaft at the corner of Queen St and Mayoral Drive.
A second shaft will be excavated at the corner of Wellesley St East and Queen St and a third shaft will be built at the corner of Victoria St East and Queen St.
The new pipe will capture wastewater flows from the eastern side of the city to connect with the Ōrākei main sewer, which will also under-go relining as part of this project.
A site compound will be set up in Greys Avenue car park. Temporary steel barriers will be appearing in coming weeks, with construction of the Mayoral Drive and Victoria St East shafts due to start in December and taking around a year to complete.
Temporary changes to Wellesley East bus stop and loading bay will be necessary whilst initial service diversion work and subsequent shaft construction takes place.
Chief program delivery officer Shayne Cunis said great efforts are being taken to minimise disruption whilst work takes place.
“Our construction partner Fulton Hogan and subcontractors are mindful of any impact on neighbours and users of Queen St — one of Auckland’s busiest streets,” he explained.
“For that reason, we are tunnelling, as opposed to digging an open trench.
“No one likes to see black flags on the Safeswim website, and this new pipework will produce a cleaner environment, improve resiliency of our network and allow for future population growth.”
Stage two is in design-phase and will involve laying new wastewater pipes from Vincent St to Greys Ave car park. The work is due to be completed in 2026.
The new wastewater infrastructure is part of the Auckland Council Group’s midtown regeneration programme which is aiming to transform the streets, spaces and underground infrastructure in midtown ready for when the City Rail Link opens and brings many more people into the city centre.
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