Rangitāiki-Tarawera Rivers Scheme

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 8 January to 12 January 2024.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 29 August to 1 September 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

Works on the Rangitāiki – Tarawera Rivers Scheme for the week 24 July to 28 July 2023.

See a map of all the work happening this week on our River Schemes.

If you want to discuss any of these works further, please contact the responsible person on 0800 884 880.

When taking on a project, Managing Director of Romanes Construction, Paul Romanes, always looks to employ locals to be part of his crew.

“It’s an important part of our business model. It always has a positive flow-on effect – from the large crew we hire, there are stand-outs, and those people tend to become part of our regular crew for project after project. They’re also more likely to hire other locals for their own projects.”

When it comes to the benefits of a local team, Paul says there are many: “Local employees know the area, they know the people and know good suppliers. They also have a real pride in their place; we’ll often hear of them popping down the road to the work site, making sure it is tidy and that the equipment isn’t getting destroyed in the elements.”

The construction company has partnered with Bay of Plenty Regional Council on both the construction of the Kaituna Mole and the final stage of the Rangitāiki Floodway – two jobs which aligned well to Paul’s company ethos.

Both projects are part of the Climate Resilience Programme, a joint initiative between Kānoa (the Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit), regional councils and the community focused on developing and upgrading vital river management and flood protection schemes in Aotearoa.

These two projects attracted Kānoa funding for their ability to support new and existing local employment opportunities, and help grow local sectors impacted by Covid-19, for a more productive, sustainable, resilient regional economy.  

The final stage of the Floodway is the installation of two sets of swing gates across two roads (McCracken and McLean) near Edgecumbe. To construct the gates, it involves cutting into the road to create a new concrete pad. They then set up two concrete walls at each site for the gates to attach to (the steel gates were made off-site by Page Macrae and were brought in when the concrete work was done).

The design of this swing gate system is unique to New Zealand – while stoplogs and sliding gates are commonplace, hinged gates across a road are the first of their kind.

In a flood event, these swing gates will act as a barrier on the road, keeping cars from entering a flood zone, and maintain the stopbank height of the Floodway, creating a channel that will help send water out to the Rangitāiki River mouth.

Sub-contractor Tim Walters (Te Arawa) has worked with Paul on both Kaituna and Rangitāiki River projects, along with his brothers, Justin and Tom, cousin Kaia and neighbour TK. The Maketū local had been working in Australia on form work construction and returned home to New Zealand in 2018. He met Paul when he was recruiting local iwi to be involved in the Kaituna Mole construction.

“We had about six of us from Maketū get involved, all with different levels of experience, which was good as we could help build up the younger fellas.

“Being from Maketū it was a project I wanted to be part of, so I could go down there with my son and tell him, ‘Yeah, I built this’.”

When Paul secured the contract for the Rangitāiki job, he gave Tim a call to come and carry on working together. While it’s 40 minutes away from Tim’s home, it’s like another home to him, as his partner and her whānau have strong connections to the area.

“Her grandfather was Bill Kerrison, the ‘kaitiaki of tuna’ in the East, so although this is a different site, the Bay of Plenty is a small community where everyone knows everyone.

“For me and the other guys working on the site, it feels special to be part of these kinds of projects when you know what the purpose of it is – to help protect the people. We really enjoy it.”

Tim says there are plenty of advantages when it comes to locals working on local projects, particularly the pride that is put into them.

“Bringing in people who know the area, who know the people, is important. It gives the community peace of mind about who is working in their backyard as they know they will respect the place that they are working in.

“It’s also a great way to get the word out what’s happening, and encourage other locals to get involved and employed on these jobs.”

Paul says he is really enjoying the Rangitāiki project and he’s got a great team around him.

“Our crew have gelled together really well and we really enjoy working with Regional Council. The boys (Jordan and Peter) are straight-up when it comes to supporting local business and we’ve built a really good relationship.”

Bay of Plenty Regional Council received $10.28M for the Rangitāiki Floodway and Spillway, and $1.63M for the Kaituna Mole from Kānoa.

Tim Walters and Harry Thomson from Romanes Construction at the McCracken Road swing gate site. 

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is encouraging residents living or working in and around Edgecumbe to have their say on the Rangitāiki Spillway project.

The Spillway needs to be upgraded as it is part of the Rangitāiki Floodway, a key piece of flood defence infrastructure to help protect the community in a flood event.

In an event, the Floodway and Spillway upgrades will help divert water away from the Rangitāiki River. This helps reduce the risk of significant flood damage to both rural and urban areas (for example, the economic damage of the 2017 event was estimated to be $95M).

Engineering Manager Mark Townsend says since Regional Council last consulted with the community on the project in 2020, the estimated cost to upgrade the Spillway has increased.

The purpose of the online survey is to have a conversation about why that is, how it will affect ratepayers and what the options are in a challenging economic climate.

“High inflation, rising interest rates, Covid-19 and high labour costs have led to price hikes across all sector, including construction.”

He adds that during the detail design phase of the project, river modelling and ground investigations identified key risks that needed to be addressed.

“These risks were seepage and erodibility (scour) of the structures when the Spillway is in operation, as well as a need to create certainty that the Spillway would achieve the required flows into the Floodway.

“Since meeting with the community in 2020, the Spillway has been designed to address these issues, better manage water flows over the Spillway and give the community reassurance that it will perform as required. These design changes include additional concrete work, sheet piling around the structure for seepage control, drainage and paddock contouring.”

The current estimate to construct the revised design in its entirety is $7.8M (less $2.1M of central government funding), a $5M increase from the original estimate ($2.8M). The increased costs will be passed on to ratepayers via targeted rates.

Further to the online survey, a community session was held on Saturday 15 April at the Edgecumbe War Memorial Hall (corner of Kauri Street and Main Street) to meet with affected ratepayers and discuss the impacts.

Have your say online: www.boprc.govt.nz/rangitaiki-floodway

Construction update: Disruption on McCracken and McLean Roads

Bay of Plenty Regional Council will begin construction for the final stage of the Rangitāiki Floodway in March 2023.

The Rangitāiki Floodway is a key piece of flood defence infrastructure to help protect the lives and livelihoods of the community.

In a flood event, the Rangitāiki Floodway is designed to take pressure off the Rangitāiki River by diverting some of its flow (via a Spillway) into near-by farmland between stopbanks and out the Rangitāiki River mouth at Thornton.

What’s happening?

The construction process involves installing swing gates (heavy duty steel flood barriers) at two sites along the Rangitāiki Floodway:

• Site one: Two sets on McCracken Road (located between Hydro Road and Western Drain Road, Edgecumbe)
  
• Site two: Two sets on McLean Road (located between East Bank Road and Western Drain Road, Edgecumbe)
  

When the Floodway is activated, these swing gates will have two functions: They will act as a barrier on the road, keeping the community from entering a flood zone, and maintain the stopbank height of the Floodway, creating a channel that helps send water out to the Rangitāiki River mouth.

When not in use, the gates are locked open, allowing uninterrupted traffic flow.

How might this impact you?

Construction is due to begin in March 2023 and each site is expected to take approximately seven weeks.

During construction, road closures will be in place around the swing gate site and there will be no through traffic. Residents will be able to access their homes, however detours will be in place to travel to and from McLean and McCracken Roads.

We will keep you updated on construction and road closures via this project page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Project Lead Niroy Sumeran on engineering@boprc.govt.nz or 0800 884 880.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

Works are underway to upgrade the floodwall along College Road in Edgecumbe township.

This section of floodwall is the final stage of Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana’s work to upgrade floodwalls downstream of the Edgecumbe College breach site, as part of the Rangitāiki River Floodwalls project.

Whakatāne contractor, Tracks Concrete Ltd, moved into the site on Tuesday, December 6, and will use the coming weeks to set up access points to the stopbank.

In conjunction with the floodwall upgrade, additional tree removal and vegetation clearance is taking place along the upstream section of the Rangitāiki River Walkway under routine maintenance.

This is being done so the stopbank can be repaired and strengthened, and continue to protect the community. Stopbanks are only as strong as their weakest link and are vulnerable to damage caused by vegetation (such as trees), which can cause potential seepage issues.

Works are expected to pause around Tuesday, December 20 through to Monday, January 16, to reduce the impact of construction noise and vibrations on the community over the Christmas / New Year’s period.

Please note, the Rangitāiki River Walkway will remain closed until the project is complete (approximately April / May 2023). A detour is in place along the College Road footpath.

The Rangitāiki River Floodwalls project is one of six ‘shovel ready’ projects Regional Council received funding for as part of Central Government’s Crown Infrastructure Funding.

If you have any questions or concerns during the construction period, please direct them to engineering@boprc.govt.nz or 0800 884 880.

We will be undertaking geotechnical investigations on the Tarawera River between the river mouth and Braemar Springs next week.

These investigations are part of our efforts to understand more about the condition of our flood defences below the surface.

The work is focused on finding out the soil composition and ground stability and the results will be used to determine what needs to happen next.

Flood protection is expensive and one of the main issues our Council is facing is balancing the cost to ratepayers while maintaining and upgrading this infrastructure to keep up with the changes in our climate. We are constantly looking at different ways to protect and manage this in the decades to come, while minimising impacts on the environment.

We have completed an archaeological assessment which guides us in protecting the cultural heritage of the area and we thank local residents for their understanding as we undertake these important flood protection investigations.

We are recommencing work on the Rangitāiki Floodway project on the outskirts of Edgecumbe in the section located between SH2 and Mclean’s Road.

Please take extra care on the roads around the site, we’ll be taking extra care too.

We're doing this work to improve how water travels down the floodway which will reduce the pressure on the Rangitāiki River stopbanks during large flood events.

We are making good progress on replacing three concrete floodwalls on the Rangitāiki River to ensure they continue to help protect our communities from flooding in the coming decades.

We’ve now finished most of the work at the East Bank Road site near Thornton School after completing the Greig Road stopbank earlier in the year.

Conversations with affected landowners are continuing at the remaining site - 87-109 College Road - with work expected to begin in the new year.

Take a look at the progress we’ve made on upgrading one of our floodwalls on the lower Rangitāiki River:

Bay of Plenty Regional Council will begin works at the Old Rangitāiki Channel outlet, near the Tarawera River mouth, next week (Monday, 3 April).

Seepage has been discovered around the structure, which means there is water seeping out under the current floodgate structure and bypassing the gate where the water is supposed to flow through in a controlled manner.

If there was a flood event, or significant increase in the river water level, this seepage could result in failure of the floodgate and potentially cause flooding downstream.

Using big metal sheets (sheet piles), Regional Council will create a temporary metal box around the structure. This will keep water out of the structure and let our team inspect its condition. This inspection will help inform the repair work required to extend the life of the structure.

Once the inspection is complete, the sheet piles will be lowered to cut off the seepage path and to allow water to flow through the structure until a decision on long-term repairs has been made.

Inserting the piles will require excavation in and around the structure. During this time, access to the Tarawera River mouth (eastern side) off Thornton Road may be limited or closed. Signage around the work area will notify the public of this.

The river mouth can be accessed from the western side of the Tarawera River, or via the beach access track in Matatā.

The work is expected to begin on Monday 3 April, 2023 and to take approximately two weeks.

We appreciate the community’s patience during this time.

Any questions, please contact the Bay of Plenty Regional Council engineering team on engineering@boprc.govt.nz or 0800 884 880.