The start of the Waikato Expressway Huntly project was marked with a midnight Karakia (Māori incantations and prayers) on Thursday 27 August 2015. Māori King Tuheitia chose the Taupiri Maunga, a sacred mountain to Waikato –Tainui, as the location for the Karakia due to its special relationship with this section of the project.
Later in the day the first sod of the Huntly section was turned by Transport Minister Hon Simon Bridges and Whatumoana Paki, son of the Maori King Tuheitia, with Fulton Hogan HEB alliance and Transport Agency staff, landowners and Waikato-Tainui members in attendance.
Mike Howat, Fulton Hogan HEB Joint Venture Board Chairman, spoke on behalf of the contractor, saying how proud they were to be delivering this important piece of infrastructure to the people of the Waikato. Mike acknowledged the recently opened Tauranga Eastern Link, also constructed by a Fulton Hogan HEB alliance, as one of the best roads in New Zealand and how the Huntly section would follow in its footsteps.
Work will commence on the 15.2km Huntly section this month, with fencing, installation of erosion and sediment controls, access track construction and site hut establishment. The main earthworks season commences in October 2015.
Some Huntly section facts:
- 15.2km long.
- Nine bridges.
- 3 million cubic metres of earthworks.
- Taupiri cut – over 1 million cubic metres of earthworks.
Further information:
http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/waikato-expressway/
