Pitcairn Island Work Wins Construction Award

Pitcairn Island Work Wins Construction Award

Auckland – 07 August 2006: A project to construct a reinforced concrete road and repair the jetty on remote Pitcairn Island, has won the New Zealand Contractors’ Federation (NZCF) Hirepool Construction Award for programmes between $3 and $10 million.

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

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 field 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. 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 at a 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 such key aspects 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 Tenby Powell, Managing Director of Hirepool Limited, principal sponsor of the New Zealand Contractors’ Federation, “these awards reflect the outstanding service 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. I congratulate them, the other finalists and all those in this industry for the part they play in developing New Zealand.

“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 efficiently in world markets, is overlooked,” says Mr Powell.

The civil contracting industry provides and maintains the country's infrastructure of public services - including energy, transport and telecommunications. The Contractors’ Federation is the national organisation of the industry.

NZCF / HIREPOOL CONSTRUCTION AWARDS 2006

Award Winners

Category One – Projects having a value less than $500,000
E Carson & Sons Limited for Clifton Terrace Car Park in Wellington – Manhole Construction
Merit Award:
Hiway Stabilizers New Zealand Limited for Foamed Bitumen Recycling Pavement Rehabilitation, Coronet Peak Road, Queenstown

Category Two – Projects having a value between $500,000 and $3,000,000
Quality Roading & Services Limited, Wairoa, for Blue Bay Subdivision, Mahia
Merit Award:
Kevin Purser Contracting Limited for Pak N Save Hutt City – Car Park
AND
Jesmond Construction Limited for Buckland Beach storage tank, Auckland

Category Three – Projects having a value between $3,000,000 and $10,000,000
McConnell Dowell for Pitcairn Island Road Reconstruction and Jetty repairs
Merit Award:
Rick Goodman & Sons Limited for Waitangi Park, Wellington

Category Four – Projects having a value greater than $10,000,000
Fletcher Construction Company for Pohokura Gas Production Plant, Taranaki
Merit Award:
McConnell Dowell Constructors Limited / Ross Reid Contractors Limited JV for Mercer to Long Swamp Four Laning – Stage IV
AND
Brian Perry Civil for Kihikihi Sewerage Upgrade, Te Awamutu

Ends

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