Asbestos trucked away from contaminated site

Maungatapu intersection. The contaminated site is located at Hammond St, in the top left of this picture.

About 3000 cubic metres of asbestos contaminated material, more than enough to fill an Olympic size swimming pool, has been trucked off a construction site at Tauranga's Maungatapu intersection.

A contaminated area was uncovered while earthworks were being carried out in late-2015 as part of an NZ Transport Agency underpass project, with work to remove it starting in February.

Asbestos testing at Maungatapu. Photo/file

Senior project manager John McCarthy said testing confirmed that all known asbestos at the work site has now been cleared.

"During the removal we took every precaution necessary to ensure the work site was in line with all health and safety, environmental, legal and regulatory guidelines and there was no risk to the public.

"During the clean-up no dust or asbestos fibres were found in the air monitoring and now testing of the site has shown that all known asbestos has been cleared.

"This means the fences around the old Baden Powell Hall will come down and the area will look like a normal work site again."

Mr McCarthy said the project team are making good progress on the Maungatapu underpass despite the asbestos find.

"The western bridge is almost complete, with the bridge beams going in sometime over the next week, and a new temporary walkway that links Hammond Street with Welcome Bay Road will open this week".

The project is on track to open in early 2018.