Port extension taking shape

The $30million extension to the Port of Tauranga's container terminal has entered a new phase with the first pour of the concrete deck.

Port property manager Tony Reynish said the first pour beside the existing wharf took place on Thursday and would progressively continue as the driving of 247 steel tube piles was completed.

The next step was to shape an embankment under the wharf and build a rock wall. The final stage was reclamation between the old and new rock walls, using sand pumped from dredging to create the basin for ships alongside the new wharf.

Mr Reynish said the dredging was covered by the resource consent for the extension and was not linked to High Court proceedings under way in Hamilton to hear appeals against the deepening of the port's shipping channels.

The extension aimed to futureproof the port so the terminal could comfortably handle the latest generation of giant container ships plus two conventionally sized vessels.

Port chief executive officer Mark Cairns said the 170-metre extension represented the biggest wharf works since the Sulphur Point berths were completed 20 years ago. "There are business opportunities we can't pursue until we have the additional capacity."

Once construction finished by March next year, it would increase the length of the wharf by 30 per cent to 770m.

Deepening the shipping channels would increase the flexibility of the port to take the new generation of container ships.