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- On Friday 16 June 2023 the opening of Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth was officially celebrated with a ceremony attended by New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and other elected representatives.
- ACCIONA has been proud to have contributed to the delivery of this project and the positive impact it will have on the lives of the people of New Zealand.
On Friday 16 June 2023 the opening of Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth was officially celebrated with a ceremony attended by New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and other elected representatives.
This is the first stretch within the Ara Tūhono - Pūhoi to Wellsford passage, which will contribute to the economic growth of the Northland region and provide a more reliable and secure transportation link between Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga.
ACCIONA has been proud to have contributed to the delivery of this project and the positive impact it will have on the lives of the people of New Zealand.
ACCIONA partnered with Fletcher Construction, New Zealand’s leading construction company, in this Private-Public Partnership (PPP) contract, to combine Fletcher’s local knowledge and expertise with ACCIONA’s global experience and innovative way of thinking.
ACCIONA has a proven history around the world delivering all aspects and phases of infrastructure projects. For this project we were able to apply our experience to lead the various phases - technical, execution, management, and completion - and the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) integration.
The Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway is all about connecting people safely and efficiently.
To achieve this outcome ACCIONA complemented the project by bringing their technical expertise and learnings from similar projects globally to work with the local teams on optimizing the design to improve the safety of the motorway. A contribution recognized by our client Northern Express Group (NX2).
ACCIONA’s technical team leaned in from the outset to work with all parties to bring a different perspective and challenge the design, eventually resulting in a more curvilineal design, instead of long straight lines, and this enhances the safety of the motorway. The team also introduced a new system to manage Health and Safety to reduce the number of accidents, significantly improving all safety key performance indicators (KPIs).
Rightfully, the concept was challenged and thoroughly considered but ultimately it was recognised as a successful decision for the project. This innovation extended to the execution of the pavement. We brought into New Zealand a new plant for placing asphalt layers, including the widest paver and the largest rollers ever used in the country.
The delivery of this project has been such a collaborative and phenomenal effort by so many, and we would like to thank our construction joint venture partner Fletcher Construction for the opportunity, and clients Northern Express Group (NX2) and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for choosing to work with us.