Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
Worksites at Te Ara o Te Ata: Mt Messenger Bypass have been awarded top marks by Taranaki Regional Council for their erosion and sediment control.
Waka Kotahi understands how crucial is it to keep waterways clean and to reduce the amount of erosion during earthworks.
Project spokesperson Caleb Perry says onsite environmental experts are working constantly to minimise erosion from the site ending up as sediment in our waterways.
“In addition to having a Waka Kotahi field guide on this, we are closely monitored by Taranaki Regional Council, as part of the project’s resource consent approval.
“We’re constantly working to reduce the amount of erosion during earthworks, while keeping water clean and off our worksites and treating any sediment-laden water so it can be safely discharged. This is extremely important for the health of our streams and rivers, and out to the ocean.”
As part of the project’s resource consent application, the regional council closely monitors the project’s performance in this area.
“In December the council started grading the project using its erosion and sediment control four point marking system.”
“Scoring a one during the inspections is the best possible result. In the six months of site visits, Mt Messenger has scored 336 of these ‘ones’ across 27 site inspections. There hasn’t been a single two, three or four,” says Mr Perry.
“But we won’t be resting on those scores – we want to continue to do the best we can to minimise our impact on the environment.
“We know sedimentation of waterways contributes significantly to the reduction in fish species and numbers, breeding habitat and water quality. We are working in an ecologically significant and sensitive location, and we have the skills and experience to use techniques which we know work well.“
“Erosion and sediment control is a large part of any earthworks project, but particularly on Te Ara o Te Ata. The scale of the job and difficulty of the terrain are huge factors, as are environmental considerations and our commitment to tread as lightly as possible on the land.”
