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Annual Report 2011 - Watercare

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<strong>Watercare</strong> Services Limited<br />

<strong>2011</strong> ANNUAL REPORT<br />

<strong>Watercare</strong><br />

at work<br />

Delivering a cleaner Hobson Bay<br />

<strong>Watercare</strong> successfully completed Project Hobson in<br />

March <strong>2011</strong>, after nearly four years of construction work.<br />

Chief Infrastructure Officer Graham Wood says the project<br />

was about two things: providing for population growth and<br />

improving the local environment.<br />

“What we had was an ageing sewer pipe that crossed Hobson<br />

Bay and connected to a small pump station,” he says.<br />

“One of our concerns was that the sewer pipe would overflow<br />

during heavy rainfall when volumes would increase four-fold.<br />

Our solution was to replace the sewer pipe with a threekilometre-long<br />

wastewater tunnel that would connect to<br />

a high-capacity pump station in the Orakei Domain.”<br />

Work began in June 2007, when <strong>Watercare</strong> established<br />

construction sites in Orakei Domain and Remuera. The Orakei<br />

site was where two activities took place: it was the hub for the<br />

tunnelling operation and the place where the pump station<br />

was built. The Remuera site provided access, via a temporary<br />

road, to shorelines in Parnell and Remuera, where shafts were<br />

excavated to connect the tunnel to the existing wastewater<br />

network. The park was also the base from which the sewer pipe<br />

was demolished.<br />

A view of the wastewater tunnel during construction.<br />

Now commissioned, it transports over 3,000 litres per second<br />

during heavy rainfall.<br />

“The tunnelling operation was launched in April 2008 and<br />

progressed at a rate of around 120 metres a week for seven<br />

months. By the time it arrived in Parnell, over 100,000 tonnes<br />

of earth had been removed.”<br />

One of the major features of the new tunnel and pump station<br />

is their combined storage capacity. This means the flow to the<br />

Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant can be regulated<br />

during heavy rain, reducing wet-weather overflows.<br />

For the people of Auckland, the most significant part of the<br />

project commenced in June 2010, when contractors began<br />

demolishing the sewer pipe that had crossed Hobson Bay for<br />

nearly 100 years. Within a few months, all signs of the pipe were<br />

gone and the construction sites were reinstated to parklands.<br />

“The tunnelling machine progressed at a rate<br />

of around 120 metres a week for seven months.<br />

By the time it arrived in Parnell, over 100,000<br />

tonnes of earth had been removed.”<br />

Healthy waterways<br />

PAGE 29<br />

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