Project Details
Client
Te Awa Lakes
Location
Horotiu
Value
$162 million
Status
In Progress
Schick has been working alongside Perry Group to complete the civil works for the $1 billion Te Awa Lakes development. Once complete, the 100-hectare masterplan will feature 2500 new homes to accommodate approximately 4000 residents. The development will also be home to multiple retail, commercial, and recreation facilities. The four-stage project is expected to take seven years to complete.
The scope of the work includes:
- Construction of a large mixed residential and commercial development
- Construction of an artificial lake through the center of the development
- Construction of a central bridge over the artificial lake
The Schick team are currently three quarters of the way through the earthworks for stage one of the project. Within the next month, the team will begin working on the installation of drainage, with the aim to have the first sections ready by the summer.
A challenge faced by the Schick team has been working on a site that is largely contaminated with alligator weed; a pest weed that is a significant bio-threat in the Waikato region. Because no dirt can leave the contamination zones, all machinery and vehicles must be cleaned prior to leaving the site. To overcome this challenge, a wash site with an automatic truck wash and high-pressure hoses, as well as an inspection system have been set up to ensure no contaminated soil exits the site.
Additionally, no material from this site can be cut to waste, regardless of how poor the quality is. This means the Schick team are using several methods to overcome this obstacle such as blending the existing material with higher quality material sourced from around the site and spreading out drying material in large paddocks to reduce the moisture content.
Upholding one of Schick’s values of ‘do what right’, the team have made sure to reuse existing materials, such as pipes and concrete where possible to reduce waste. There is an existing wetland that runs through the middle of site and into the Waikato River. This wetland is being bunded and silt fenced to ensure no silt is discharged into the wetland, which is a habitat to native eels.
