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Media release
7 September

Northern Gateway Toll Road Takes Out Top Roading Award

The Northern Gateway Toll Road was awarded top honours at the 2009 Roading Excellence Awards held in Wellington tonight.

The Northern Gateway Toll Road, an extension of State Highway One from Orewa to Puhoi, won the Shell Bitumen Excellence Award for a Major Road Project and took out the Roading New Zealand Supreme Award.

The $365 million project, built by the Northern Gateway Alliance, passed through historically rich and diverse landscapes, steep topography and local streams, which made it one of New Zealand's most challenging roading projects. The road, which opened in January this year, was designed to create a visual showcase of environmental and engineering excellence.

Roading New Zealand chief executive Chris Olsen says the awards judges considered the Northern Gateway Toll Road to be an excellent example of a project that was meticulously planned and executed under a truly collaborative model.

It is a testament to NZTA’s courage to embark on major and high-risk projects using this form of contractual arrangement, Mr Olsen said, and it also demonstrates the New Zealand contracting industry’s ability to deliver these complex projects very successfully.

“As New Zealand embarks on a round of major roading infrastructure projects, it is very heart-warming to see the industry delivering such high calibre work. It augers well for the future of the country’s highway network.”

Other award winners included the Healing Te Rerenga Wairua Cape Reinga Upgrade by AECOM, which received the InfraTrain New Zealand Industry Best Practice Award for Environmental Sustainability. The project improved access to one of New Zealand iconic lighthouses through sealing part of SH1 and re-landscaping the site, with an emphasis on its tourism benefits and consideration for the area’s cultural importance to local Maori.

The InfraTrain New Zealand Industry Best Practice Award for People was won by City Care Limited for its project aimed at increasing safe behaviours among its staff and reducing workplace accidents.

The State Highway 60 Eureka Bend Reinstatement, a joint project by Fulton Hogan, GHD Ltd and the New Zealand Transport Agency, won the Goughs Excellence Award for a Minor Road Project. The highway is the only road access to the Golden Bay and the project was undertaken after a major slip in 2006 cut off the area.

The Roading Excellence Awards are sponsored by Roading New Zealand and recognise excellence in the planning, design and construction of significant roading projects, as well as the development and implementation of best practice and collaboration in the roading industry.

ENDS

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