The Western Belfast Bypass project in Christchurch has progressed by leaps and bounds since the first sod was turned in May last year.
Project Manager Edward Husband says “The site was fully operational on 15 May, just 3 days after the first sod was turned by Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).” he said.
Part of the New Zealand Roads of National Significance programme, the NZ$88M Western Belfast Bypass (WBB) project in Christchurch aims to improve access between North Canterbury and the rest of the city.
The project involves building a four-lane, median separated motorway to provide a direct connection between the Christchurch Northern Motorway and Johns Road. It is the final stage of the NZ$322M Western Corridor and, together with the Southern Motorway and Northern Arterial, makes up the Christchurch Motorways project.
“It’s great to see the project taking shape. So much has been accomplished in the last 8 months.” he said.
“We have a great project team, complimented by a great team of suppliers who have contributed to our success to date.” said Edward.
Site clearance has been completed and all 146,000m2 of high strength basal reinforcement below embankments across the bypass has been installed. The bridge areas where stone column ground improvement was required are complete and 500,000m3 the scheduled 611,000m3 of bulk fill has been placed.
“We completed bulk fill works at the bridge locations before Christmas to allow the ground to settle before the next stage of work.” he said.
Edward says this piece of work was critical to the timeline of the Western Belfast Bypass project.
“Because we met our Christmas milestones, we get a few valuable weeks of breathing space in our settlement programme which leads to the next stage of the project – the On-Ramp and Groynes Bridges.” he said.
“Once this NZTA project is finished, it aims to reduce traffic by half on Main North Road.” he said.
The Bypass is expected to be completed in early 2018.
Learn more about the Western Belfast Bypass on the NZTA website
