Waikato Expressway Project – NZ Transport A
estimated cost and got the road open before Christmas .’’
Cambridge section – HEB Construction Construction began on the Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway in September 2013 and the 16km stretch has an estimated cost of around $ 230 million . The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2016 . HEB Construction is the contractor on the project .
Around 300 to 350 staff and subcontractors are on site at peak and to date 650,000 cubic metres of earth has been moved . There are eight bridges to be constructed in this stretch of the Expressway and on completion the Cambridge section will contain about 360,000 newly-planted trees . This section is predicted to reduce traffic through the picturesque rural town of Cambridge by up to 10,000 vehicles a day .
As the longest Expressway section that has been worked on to date , there have been several challenges for HEB Construction and the Transport Agency to overcome .
One of the eight bridges is over the Karapiro Gully and is one of the biggest structures built in the region in recent times . The bridge is 200 metres long and 40 metres above the bed of the gully , with piles between 40 and 60 metres deep .
“ There have also been , and will continue to be , a number of temporary road closures and diversion routes that change through the course of the project development ,” said Peter Simcock , Project Services Manager at the Transport Agency .
HEB Construction ’ s contractor representative Gary Budden has said that their good progress thus far wouldn ’ t have been possible without the goodwill of nearby residents and travellers .
“ We ’ ve established a haul road along the site , closed some roads , put up temporary traffic signals , created a diversion road , and moved a lot of earth … and right through it all the people have been wonderful ,” Budden said . “ I think they really ‘ get ’ what we are doing here and what will be achieved .” The Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway starts south of