Boffa Miskell Limited’s Post

It was a pleasure this morning to attend the karakia for Whakawhirinaki - the Silverstream Pipe Bridge. This was one of my first projects at Boffa Miskell Limited in 2018. Back then it was the Silverstream Pipe Crossing project, because that stage it hadn’t been decided whether the pipe would go over or under the river, or where. An MCA process later and it was decided that the pipe would cross the river on a bridge, and then we looked at five potential options for the bridge design. The network arch won out, for having the least landscape and natural character effects, among other criteria. Following this I completed the landscape and visual effects assessment for the resource consent for the bridge which included interviewing the two potential bridge contractors on their methodology for constructing the bridge, to understand the scale of potential construction effects. Our design team worked on a design concept for the bridge surrounds, which involved consultation with numerous stakeholders including three councils and two branches of Forest & Bird. Since then we have developed detailed design and been involved with on site construction queries. I’ve shared a few bridge milestones along the way, but this feels like a big moment and it was pretty special to be on the banks of Te Awa Kairangi this morning along with other members of the project team, stakeholders, iwi and officers and councillors.