McConnell Dowell project manager Robert van Rijnsoever with pieces of pipe, clamped and ready to go.
A state of the art tunnel boring machine has arrived at Watercare’s wastewater treatment plant in Army Bay, ready to begin installation of a new outfall pipe.
The machine is rented from a German company and has been named Blanche after Henry Shakespear’s wife.
The name, newly painted on the front of the machine, will soon be scraped off by friction as Blanche begins its work of driving a total of 2.9km through the earth, installing up to 100m of pipe per day.
Like a giant caterpillar, the remote controlled machine “munches” its way through the soil, thrusting the pipe into the newly created space. It will bore from the treatment plant out into the existing discharge point, which lies several kilometres out into the Tiritiri Matangi Channel.
The work is part of a $31 million upgrade to the Army Bay plant. Blanche is insured for $6.6 million.
The current pipeline is nearing the end of its operational life and needs to be replaced with a larger pipe. The new infrastructure will ensure greater reliability and resilience of the treatment plant as Whangapararoa and surrounding areas continue to grow.
