gency australia use of imported aggregates and field stabilisation through the addition of lime and cement together in order to provide confidence that the required productivity targets are being meet to achieve programme certainty ,” said Charles Stokes , project manager at Fletcher Construction .
Because of the wet season , Fletcher has approximately 60 personnel on the site through winter . The project team consists of around 20 staff ( administration , management and engineers ), and workers in the field . The summer season will have around 150 workers on site .
Besides having to deal with the elements and the seasons , the project “ has a complex geology from the Waikato River flood plains to the south and highly variable materials in the rolling topography to the north of the project site ,” said Stokes . The land area along the site contains sensitive airfall ash , flooddeposited pumice and silts derived from the Taupo volcanic region .
This combination has made bulk earthworks challenging . However , with the help of its sister company Winstone Laboratory , Fletcher
Construction has been able to implement a testing regime to help ensure that quality is achieved while still allowing productivity to be left unimpeded .
Another challenge Fletcher Construction has contended with and overcome on the Rangiriri section was the change of design during construction . “ The technical landscape was evolving following on from lessons learnt in the recent Canterbury earthquakes ,” said Stokes . “ Our in-house technical design capability working alongside our design consultant MWH was able to navigate through some complex issues ensuring a robust solution was realised .” This included installing a considerable amount of stone column ground improvements .
Before Fletcher Construction was awarded the contract for the Rangiriri section , Stokes was involved on the project as a Contractors representative . The Transport Agency used the Early Contractor Involvement ( ECI ) model to develop the plans for the section .
“ Part of this role involved ensuring that the technical knowledge
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