Pitcairn road and jetty work takes out award

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The project, by construction company McConnell Dowell, was one of four category winners named at a black-tie function at Queenstown’s Millennium Hotel at the conclusion of the Contractors’ Federation’s fi ve-day annual conference recently. 

 

The other three winners on the night were E Carson & Sons for a manhole construction for a Wellington car park, Quality Roads & Services Ltd for a subdivision in Mahia and Fletcher Construction for a gas fi eld project in Taranaki. 

 

Work on the Pitcairn Island project included construction of a rock reinforced concrete road up a 1- in-4 grade, retaining a rock seawall and repairs to the jetty slipway. Excellent examples NZCF chief executive Richard Michael said all four category winners were excellent examples of the civil contracting industry’s skill and professionalism. 

 

“We’re talking about large scale engineering projects that are delivered on time and within budget, and completed under the most trying and strenuous conditions, often in remote parts of the country during adverse weather conditions,” he says. 

 

Physical conditions were indeed one of the prime complications to the Pitcairn Island project, with large swells in Bounty Bay frequent, making unloading of materials hazardous. 

 

The remoteness of the site meant that long lead times were required for the mobilisation of plant and manpower, with the additional risk of remoteness in terms of safety, access and maintenance of equipment. 

 

Mr Michael says the NZCF are delighted with this year’s entries. “The number and quality of the entrants show the industry in very good heart. 

 

The category winners in each category had to be exceptional to just get in.” Applicants for the awards, now in their 28th year, were judged on key aspects such as their professionalism, construction methods, customer relations, human resources, teamwork, partnering, planning and control, quality control, pre-planning, financial controls, location and logistics, site control and risk. 

 

According to Hirepool Ltd managing director Tenby Powell, “the awards refl ect the outstanding service that industry members contribute to this country’s continued growth”. “The four winners represent the very best of what those involved in civil engineering, construction and general contracting do on a daily basis. 

 

“They really are the unsung heroes. Too often the work these industries play in developing and maintaining New Zealand’s economy across a range of infrastructural services, so critical to enabling a modern economy like ours compete effi ciently in world markets, is overlooked,” Mr Powell says.

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