In partnership with our customer, Major Road Projects Victoria, our Epping Road Upgrade team recently visited Epping Preschool and taught the kids all about road construction.
The little apprentices then put what they’d learnt to work and started familiarising themselves with using (toy) excavators and assembling bridges with blocks.
The upgrade will benefit the preschool with extra lanes, improved walking and cycling paths, and new safety barriers right outside.
The road upgrade is expected to be complete in 2025 and will improve local connections and provide a safer and more reliable journey for more than 35,000 drivers.
McConnell Dowell working with the vertical building arm of the Group Built Environs, on the development of the Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) facilities.
Built Environs was awarded the Enabling Works for the WP2 Western Terminal Project in December 2022 and McConnell Dowell is completing the civil work scope.
The contract is part of the Airport’s infrastructure investment plan to combine the domestic and international terminals and provide for a future shift to mass rapid transit.
The civil work scope includes the relocation of the existing parking areas and the construction of a new trucking route for the western terminal.
General Manager Built Environs New Zealand, Greg Ford says: “This contract builds on other successful projects we have completed together such as the Puhinui Train Station. McConnell Dowell has completed several upgrades at the airport and their relationships, experience working in an operational Airport, and knowledge of AIAL’s systems and processes will be a great advantage for the team. We look forward to ‘working together’ in the spirit of our shared values on this important infrastructure project.
The team began the enabling works in February 2023 and is expected to complete this stage in the middle of the year.
For more information about the project, go to: https://www.mcconnelldowell.com/projects/auckland-international-airport
Our New Bridgewater Bridge 'Pre-employment Program' is in full swing with the second group of graduates completing the course recently.
The program, developed by us, funded by Keystone Tasmania and delivered in partnership between TasTAFE and Lifeline, targets people new to the construction industry. The week-long course delivered at TasTAFE’s Clarence campus includes units from the Certificate II in Civil Construction, as well as information about health and safety and a life skills session.
We've focused on socially and economically disadvantaged Tasmanians including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, recently arrived immigrants, long-term unemployed and those looking for a career change.
A project the size and scale of the New Bridgewater Bridge presents many challenges in terms of workforce capacity, skills, training and employment. Attracting and training new people like this not only helps the project but will also increase the long-term skills and capacity of Tasmania's construction industry.
Many of the graduates will be employed in the project’s purpose-built pre-cast concrete production facility in Bridgewater, where the 1,000 concrete segments needed to build the bridge will be produced.
Overall we'll be running four intakes of the program.
McConnell Dowell completed the upgrade of the Pukekohe Wastewater Treatment Plant for Watercare.
In Joint Venture (JV) with HEB Construction Ltd, McConnell Dowell successfully completed the Pukekohe Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Upgrade on time and within budget despite the challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The upgrade to Watercare’s WWTP involved converting it from a batch process using Sequence Batch Reactors (SBR) to a Continuous Flow Facility, doubling the capacity of the plant.
The project was delivered in two Separable Portions, A involved the construction of:
- Inlet works
- Activated Sludge Reactor (ASR)
- Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR)
- Return Activated Sludge (RAS) pump station
- Permeate tanks and chemical dosing facility
- Ultra-Violet (UV) disinfection system
- ASR electrical and MBR Buildings
- Interconnecting pipework and electrical works
- Access bridge, road works and finishings
Separable Portion B included:
- Decommissioning the old system, including two SBR tanks
- Construction of two Activated Sludge Reactor tanks
- Interconnecting pipework
The Joint Venture performed the pre-commissioning works and supported Watercare, who carried out the commissioning works.
All the work was carefully programmed so it could be completed safely within the confines of the existing site while the plant remained fully operational.
The team undertook extensive value engineering at the start of the project, which saved $2M for the client before construction started. During construction additional saving were identified by applying learnings from Watercare’s Biological Nutrient Removal facility at the Māngere WWTP which the JV had also delivered.
The innovations included using large diameter Polyethylene (PE) pipework rather than the specified fibreglass (FRP) pipe and knife gate valves instead of the ones specified which saved money and helped reduce the project’s carbon footprint.
Find out more about the
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McConnell Dowell’s newest contract award by Dunedin City Council (DCC) to deliver their Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants Upgrade will see McConnell Dowell establishing a long-term presence in Ōtepoti.
This capital renewal work contract includes scoping, optimising, designing and delivering a variety of work for the city’s three wastewater treatment plants and six clean water treatment plants.
The project team includes DCC operational staff, McConnell Dowell (lead contractor) Stantec (design) and Lutra (process engineers).
McConnell Dowell Managing Director for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, Fraser Wyllie says “McConnell Dowell first worked for Dunedin City in 1977 on the Mt Grand Water Treatment Plant, 14 years ago worked on the Tahuna Wastewater Treatment Plant Outfall. We have been delivering the Sawyers Bay - Three Waters Pipe Renewals Project for the Dunedin City Council (DCC) and are delighted to grow our involvement with the Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants Upgrade. We are really looking forward to continuing working with the DCC team and reinforcing the city’s three waters infrastructure.”
Planning and design have started, and construction is expected to begin in May this year. Click here for more information.
