Te Ahu a Turanga: project enters fourth year

Earthworks in cut 25, the last major cut remaining on Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatū-Tararua highway project.

Construction update

It’s an exciting time for construction of Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Highway as the project enters its fourth year.

By the end of this year, large sections of the highway will be complete and being prepared for opening by mid-2025.

However, there’s still lots of construction to be done and teams are gearing up for another huge season.

At Parahaki Bridge over the Manawatū River, the team continues to construct the bridge deck using the form traveller, which currently sits on pier one. A new concrete segment is constructed about every 10 days, and with 54 segments in total, these should be completed by the end of 2024.

To help with progress, a second form traveller is being installed on pier two, which will enable the team to construct more sections of the bridge deck concurrently.

Over the river at the Eco-Viaduct, the team will continue laying pre-cast concrete panels for the bridge deck, on which concrete will be poured. This bridge is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Another significant development this year will be the completion of earthworks. Since breaking ground in January 2021, our earthworks teams have moved nearly 6.5 million cubic metres of earth and are on track to finish bulk earthworks this summer.

In areas where earthworks are completed, pavement crews have been constructing the road surface itself, and this work will ramp up significantly throughout 2024.

To allow for the high volumes of asphalt needed to construct the pavement, an asphalt plant will be established on site in the first half of this year. A second Palmerston North plant will also provide the asphalt necessary to make the road.

While construction continues, our landscaping teams will be out from April aiming to put another 500,000 plants in the ground in areas next to the highway. They’ll also continue maintaining areas that have been planted over the last three years, ensuring the newly planted trees and shrubs thrive.

We look forward to sharing regular updates to keep the public informed on how construction is progressing. Keep an eye out on our website or social media channels throughout the year for more flyover videos to get a closer look at how the site is shaping up.

Walk the Highway a success

It was great to see hundreds of people taking part in the fourth Walk the Highway event on January 21. The walk is a fundraiser for the Woodville Lions and Woodville School, who organise, manage and promote the event, with some support from the project team.

This year’s event was the biggest ever, with tickets selling out in advance and more than 1500 people doing the walk. I’d like to thank the public for coming out to see our progress and the community groups for doing such a fantastic job managing the event.

More information

If you want to learn more about the project, head to www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/te-ahu-a-turanga/ or visit the Woodville Community Library and Information Centre for the latest flyover, project updates and the Drive the Highway simulator.