Work begins on seawall

Construction of a weighty foreshore erosion protection seawall has begun at Castlepoint, with the first of 8400 tonnes of rock arriving from nearby Tinui Quarry this week.
The innovative seawall project is now under way, at a cost of around $800,000, after years of development and a lot of public talk and consultation.
Masterton District Council special projects engineer Ian Steer says turning the seawall proposal into reality is good news for the locals.
"Without it the 500m stretch of foreshore between the Castlepoint Store and Guthrie Crescent would be subject to ongoing threat from the sea."
For the next 10 weeks the foreshore area at Castlepoint will look more like a construction site than a coastal resort and fishing village. But by the end of the project, locals and visitors will be able to boast some of the best coastal access around.
"Once it's finished, people will get to the beach by an access ramp at the northern end of the beach opposite the store, and by four sets of stairs (with handrails) along the remaining length of the wall," Mr Steer said.
"There'll even be a concrete path along the top of the wall to link the access ramp and stairs. We're picking it will be a very popular improvement."
Reshaping of the grassed berm areas at the top of the seawall will also take place as part of the contract. The shape of final landscaping for the berms remains to be developed with community representatives and is being planned to coincide with the 2006 winter/spring planting season.
Construction of the seawall began on March 9, with the contractor Inframax Construction Ltd, of Wanganui, establishing their plant and facilities on site.
Inframax was one of four companies tendering for the project, agreeing to complete the work for $391,628.
Coastal engineering specialists OCEL Consultants Ltd (New Plymouth) designed the seawall and have appointed Wairarapa consultant George Evans to oversee day-to-day construction management of the seawall.
Rocks are local, coming from Wairarapa Aggregates Tinui quarry, at a cost of $358,400.
The seawall will measure about 2.9m in height and will feature an under-layer and two armouring layers. About 1450 tonnes of rock will be used in the under-layer and 6950 tonnes of rock in the two armouring layers. Most of the rocks in the armour layers will weigh between one and two tonnes each.