Ian George (left) and Shaun Curtis on the job at Mt Messenger.
Egmont Village local Shaun Curtis will have his, and his excavator’s, mettle tested in Feilding later this week when he shows off his skills in a 13-tonne digger to represent Taranaki at the Civil Contractors New Zealand (CCNZ) CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition.
Shaun is one of 13 champions from around New Zealand whose excavator skills will be pushed to the limit over a series of epic challenges. Some of the challenges test ‘real-world’ skills such as traversing a trench and digging around pipelines, while other more unique tasks may include slam-dunking a basketball into a two-storey concrete pipe using an excavator’s bucket, and a slalom course.
Manfeild Park will host the heavy metal showdown, which will take place on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18 during the Central Districts Field Days.
Shaun says he is excited about the event.
“There’s going to be some good competition, and I haven’t even been to the Field Days before, so it will all be new.”
Shaun, who works for I & D George Contracting, qualified for the event after his success in the Taranaki regional competition in October 2021. He says he has worked in the industry for 15 years and has significant experience on major projects, and has also worked around critical infrastructure of national and regional importance, including oil and gas pipelines.
“We do a lot of work around major oil and gas pipelines, so you do have to have your wits about you. It really helps with your focus when you are working around pipelines like that.”
CCNZ chief executive Alan Pollard says the CCNZ CablePrice National Excavator Operator Competition is about celebrating the exceptional skill of New Zealand’s top excavator operators and inspiring the next generation to get behind the controls.
“The more unusual tests of skill always bring the spectators, but the competition also has a more serious side, with plenty of more traditional tasks such as trenching, operating around underground services and tests of [the] operator’s health and safety knowledge.”
One of the most challenging elements of the competition is the Z Energy One-day Job Challenge, which tests all aspects of an operator’s skill set and involves site planning and layout, as well as execution, for a task such as constructing a house foundation.
New Zealand’s National Excavator Operator Competition was founded in the mid-1990s by CCNZ Manawatū Branch as the brainchild of local contractors Graeme Blackley and Grant Smith.
Alan says the competition is “one of the most unique spectacles New Zealand has to offer”.
“The operators at our national finals are the elite, the ‘SAS’, if you like, of our excavator operating community.”
He urges people to turn out in force to show their support for the competitors; many of whom have been involved in the response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Excavator operators play a critical role in nearly all of our country’s biggest projects. Not only do they transform the terrain for roading and water projects, but they also build stopbanks to defend against flooding and assist with the clean-up when the worst weather hits.”
Alan says there is more demand than ever for civil construction workers, and there has never been a better time for job-seekers to enter the industry and make a real difference to communities in need.