Some of the 115-year-old pipe was 8m underground. Photo / NZME
Some of the 115-year-old pipe was 8m underground. Photo / NZME
After almost four years and $4.66 million, a council wastewater project on Nixon Street in Whanganui East is nearing completion.
Replacing a 115-year-old sewerage pipe, parts of which were 8m underground, began at the start of 2022.
Sections of the road have been closed to traffic ever since.
Whanganui DistrictCouncil three waters manager Kritzo Venter said the third and final stage, installing a rider sewer, would be finished next week.
“That’s a shallower pipeline running parallel, which picks up the houses in the immediate location – their toilets and showers and things – and drops it into the deeper one,” he said.
“The remaining task is the final reseal, which depends on suitable weather conditions and covers the section from 33 Nixon Street to Moana Street along the centre line, as well as several spot areas between Anzac Pde and Richmond St where manholes from the old line have been removed.
“Overall, it’s been quite an operation.”
During stage one in 2023 (549m from Anzac Pde to Moana St), contractors Parkinson and Holland battled 4575-year-old tōtara in the soil, which caused the company’s boring machine to jam.
Venter said a community meeting was held before stage three began and there was common feedback from residents. “Thank goodness it’s nearly over ... We are really grateful to them for bearing with us,” Venter said.
The catchment area for the new pipe covers about half of Whanganui East. Photo / Whanganui District Council
“That Nixon St line collects around half the wastewater from Whanganui East, basically, and brings it down to the Jones St wastewater pump station.
“It’s then pumped across the river into the main sewer interceptor and on to the treatment plant.”
Last August, Venter told the Chronicle that leaving the pipe in place did “not bear thinking about”.
“If it broke at a depth of eight metres, that [would become] quite a big issue to sort out.
“It’s an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We want to make sure we are at the top of the cliff.”
Whanganui District Council waters contracts manager Stuart Cawley (left), Bullocks Director & Operations Manager Glen Bullock (centre) and Parkinson & Holland contractor Paul Hall in 2023, after the discovery of the ancient tōtara. Photo / NZME
Stage one cost $2.389m, stage two (326m from Moana Street to Raine Street) cost $1.5m and stage three cost $777,500.
Venter said the council was not aware of any other pipes at similar depths that needed replacing, but “we’ve been looking and looking”.
“Over the next one or two decades, I’m sure there’ll be something we need to work on, but by then, we might be with this new CCO [council-controlled organisations] with Ruapehu.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.
