Councillors will vote on Wednesday to award the design portion of the $29 million new bridge across Whangarei Harbour.
The Whangarei District Council hopes the Lower Hatea River Crossing project, which will construct a road link between Riverside Dr and Port Rd, will result in an iconic bridge and act as an economic stimulus for local businesses. As the project is a design-build contract, it is expected that the contractor chosen to design the crossing will also later construct it.
Following an evaluation process that considered 10 different tenders, council staff identified their preferred tenderer and began commercial negotiations.
On Wednesday, councillors will be asked to approve the awarding of a $200,000 design contract to the Transfield Services/McConnell Dowell joint venture.
The Transfield/McConnell joint venture consists of two firms who will design and construct the road, a bridge and geotechnical design firm from Auckland, two UK specialist bridge design firms, and an Australian construction firm.
In addition to preparing a preliminary design, the Transfield/McConnell team will determine the overall cost of the project, which the council hopes will not exceed $29 million. Deputy nayor Phil Halse expected the design contract to be finished within five or six months. It would then presented to the council and their approval sought to award the construction contract. The construction of the 300-metre long multi-span bridge with central lifting section and kilometre of road with three roundabouts would take about 12 months, he said.
Councillor Halse said the working group will ensure the entire project comes within budget in order to maximise the 50 per cent New Zealand Transport Authority subsidy.
$29m bridge design across Whangarei Harbour to go to vote
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.