Description
Te Ahu a Turanga – Manawatū Gorge Highway is an 11.5km new highway between Woodville & Ashhurst, with two lanes each way.
A major slip in April 2017 left SH3 through the Manawatū Gorge impassable. This new road is being built over the Ruahine Range, to provide a safe, resilient, and efficient route.
The project scope is wider than infrastructure, with key result areas focused on broader outcomes such as creating local employment and upskilling communities.
It is being built by an Alliance of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Fulton Hogan, HEB Construction, Aurecon, WSP, Rangitāne o Manawatū, Rangitāne o Tamaki nui-a-Rua, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua, Te Runanga o Raukawa (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Nga Kaitiaki ō Ngāti Kauwhata).
Rating Highlights
| Category | Credits | Achievements |
| Eco-1 | Ecological Outcomes
The Te Ahu a Turanga Alliance is committed to ‘treading lightly’. Wherever possible, we aim to leave the landscape in a better state than before we began. In the design period, careful and considerate design has reduced the potential impact on vegetation from 30ha to 11.8ha. The Project has committed to replacing the 11.8ha impacted with 45.6ha of new vegetation in some targeted locations, enhancing the existing flora population. We were able to demonstrate this through the Biodiversity Offset Accounting Modelling and the Biodiversity Compensation Modelling for the Project, where the output values for terrestrial and wetland habitat types demonstrated a 113% gain in biodiversity scores is expected following revegetation at offset and compensation sites. The Project achieved a verified level 3 and a score of 11.25 |
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| Mat-1 | The Project achieved materials reduction of 8%, through initiative such as:
· Optimisation of pavement widths · Replacing over 4km of reinforced concrete pipes with plastic uPVC pipes · Reusal of site won materials rather than using imported fill Using a Living Wall instead of steel reinforcing mesh The project achieved a Verified level of 1.53 and a score of 3.44 through demonstrating a 8% reduction in Enviro points against their base case. |
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| Leg-1 | The Project has committed to creating local employment and upskill the local workforce. The project is expected to employ over 2,000 people over its duration, with up to 350 people working on site at any one time which is a significant number of jobs for the Region and presents a significant legacy opportunity.
The Project partnered with the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in 2020 to provide practical work experience to UCOL students. The UCOL programme was connected to Te Ahu a Turanga to promote awareness of opportunities and the nature of skills being sought. This has enabled people to gain greater skills through training opportunities such as internships, apprenticeships and work placements. So far at least 6 young people who attend UCOL have participated in an internship on the Project. The project has also provided work and training for four new university graduates. The project achieved Level 3 and a score of 5 Points |
Acknowledgements
Iwi partners on the project from:
Rangitāne o Manawatū,
Rangitāne o Tamaki nui-a-Rua,
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua,
Te Runanga o Raukawa (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Nga Kaitiaki ō Ngāti Kauwhata).
Certification Date
| 19/12/2024 |
