McConnell Dowell is proud to have set a new pipejacking record on Watercare’s Hunua 4 watermain project in Auckland.

Amiria the tunnel-boring machine (TBM) broke through at Khyber Pass Rd, setting a record of 1216 metres for the longest single drive in the southern hemisphere by a TBM greater than 3 metres diameter.

The previous pipejack record was also set by McConnell Dowell – for the Christchurch Ocean Outfall project in 2007 – by 345 metres.

McConnell Dowell project manager Richard Atkin says: “This record achievement demonstrates the skill and experience we have in our tunnelling teams, as well as our commitment to working through challenges and delivering for our client.”

There is just one more tunnelling drive to go in the final section of the watermain project, which will connect the Redoubt Rd and Khyber Pass reservoirs. At 1296m-long, this drive will break the record again.

Amiria was named by a child in Starship Hospital. It is the te reo Māori version of Amelia, which means hardworking.

“She’s certainly lived up to her name,” Atkin says. “In this tunnelling drive she bored through more than a kilometre of basalt rock, and curves with a radius of 750m, which placed pressure on the interjacking stations.”

Watercare project manager David Moore says: “The beauty of this part of the project is that we’ve built this huge piece of infrastructure and very few people even knew it was happening. We tunnelled from right next to the new Westfield Newmarket mall under New Zealand’s busiest road – the southern motorway – to Khyber Pass Rd without disturbing the public.”

The 60-tonne, closed-faced Herrenknecht machine bored at depths up to 30 metres below ground level.

Most of the 31-kilometre watermain has been laid with open trenching, but tunnelling was chosen for most of the final section between Market Rd and Khyber Pass to minimise disruption to a busy urban area.

The project, which caters for Auckland’s growing population and adds resilience to the water network, has been completed in 11 sections and will be finished next year.

Thai Oil Public Limited Company has awarded McConnell Dowell the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the New Bang Phra Raw Water Line Project Pump Station Package in Thailand.

The project is located at Bang Phra Reservoir, Chonburi located approximately 16 km from the Thai Oil Public Company Limited (TOP) Refinery in Sriracha, where our McConnell Dowell team in Thailand successfully completed the construction of 4 km 36” HDPE Pipeline last year as part of the IDEA Project.

The project is linked to the overall Clean Fuel Project at Thai Oil’s Sriracha Refinery which requires an increase in raw water supply. The new Pump Station and Raw Water Pipeline will provide over 4,000m3/h of raw water and will replace the existing system.

Managing Director South East Asia Tom Dockray said he is proud of the way the team has lived the Group’s Values while securing this contract;

“This contract with Thai Oil builds on the relationship that developed through the IDEA Project. Through early engagement with the team we were able to understand the key drivers for the project and provide a technically robust and efficient solution.

The multidisciplinary nature of project has allowed McConnell Dowell to combine the Group’s global experience with its knowledge of the local region. The marine and civil works associated with the pier and cofferdam is also an opportunity for McConnell Dowell to further build the in-country expertise and capabilities.”

The works have commenced on site and are scheduled to be completed at the end of 2021.

McConnell Dowell, with customer Major Roads Projects Victoria (MRPV), is pleased to be making excellent progress on the largest transport infrastructure project in northern Victoria, the Echuca-Moama Bridge Project.

After months of work in the townships of Echuca and Moama, we’ve cleared the way for works on the bridge abutments on both sides of the Murray River. More than 40,000 of an estimated 400,000 tonnes of soil, needed to build embankments, has been placed on site.

Piling is also well underway, with 550 piles to be driven into the ground to form the foundations for the new bridges over the Murray and Campaspe rivers, and the two flood relief structures.

According to Mr Eric Shegog, MRPV Project Director, “We’re pleased with the progress of works on this project.

“We have a great team building the bridge project, which is on track for completion in mid-2022.”

 “This project will make crossing the Murray and Campaspe rivers easier for locals all year round, relieving congestion and bottlenecks in the busy tourist seasons,” he added.

McConnell Dowell is proud to share that the St Marys Bay project team in Auckland reached a major milestone with three sections of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), ‘Hinehōaka’, being carefully lowered into the Pt Erin shaft.  

A competition would normally be run amongst local school children to come up with a name for a new TBM, though due to Covid-19 the project team and Auckland Council Healthy Waters employees were challenged to submit their ideas. One of the more creative and poignant submissions, Hinehōaka, was chosen. Hinehōaka, the Māori deity of sandstone reflects the cliffs around Pt Erin and St Marys Bay which are primarily made from sandstone. 

Hinehōaka is now positioned on a steel cradle where the new tunnel will begin inside the Pt Erin shaft. Over the next few weeks the team will connect the hydraulics, perform surveys, set up the guidance system and test the TBM before she begins tunnelling in early July. Hinehōaka will create a new 2km long pipeline for the St Marys Bay Area Water Quality Improvement project in three tunnelling sections or drives.

The stormwater storage pipeline will meet an increasing demand on the sewer system as Auckland’s population grows. It will also significantly reduce combined wastewater and stormwater discharges and by improving water quality, will make local beaches safer for people and wildlife. 

The scope of works includes:  

• Building a new 2km long, 1.8m diameter stormwater storage pipeline.  
• Constructing three shafts at Pt Erin, St Marys Road Park and the corner of London and New streets. 
• Performing three tunnelling drives to connect the shafts and create a tunnel out to the outfall location in the Waitemata Harbour. 
• Assembling a 468m long high-density polyethylene (HDPE) marine outfall assembled in Kaiaua, Coromandel then towed 90km to Auckland.  
• Building a new pumping and screening station and odour control unit in the Pt Erin Park shaft.
• Constructing a new weir structure and odour control unit  in the St Marys Road Park.  

Construction began in January 2020 and is scheduled for completion in mid-2021.