Aro Valley Wastewater Renewals

We have an update to the schedule for our work programme for the Aro Valley Wastewater Renewals project – please check the 'Schedule' tab for the new expected dates for each street. 

We apologise for again having to shift dates and thank you for your understanding and patience. We have had to reschedule due to weather delays and unforeseen ground circumstances such as concrete blockages, tree roots in pipes, and significant differences in actual infrastructure compared to historic plans.

Our contractor Brian Perry Civil Ltd has rostered crews and traffic management for both day and night works, and you can also expect people in branded work gear from their sub-contractors Tier One and PipeTech.

We are trying to minimise the programme impact, but please understand the additional work will push the schedule out to these expected timeframes:

-    Work continues from now until end of Wednesday 16 September

-    A break from Thursday 17 September

-    Work resumes and concludes Monday 28 September to Friday 2 October.

Work is scheduled to occur between the hours of 8am to 4pm, with traffic management starting from around 7.30am.

Disruption for residents

While we were planning to use trenchless relining technology for most of the project, some excavation of the road surface is now needed, as well as compacting and asphalting, with both higher noise and vibration impacts. There will be quieter periods of work, too. If you have any health issues, accessibility challenges, or other concerns, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

How you can please help – traffic restrictions between 7.30am and 3.30pm

You can help so much by not using your vehicles in the street between 7.30am and 3.30pm each workday. It would be greatly appreciated if you could move your car out of Maarama Crescent before 7.30am, as worksites will include the middle of the road. Emergency services’ vehicles will always be able to get through, as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

About the work

Here’s what we have found additional to the original scope once we have investigated with camera technology and further site inspection:

•    Concrete blockages through one section of the network, and a collapsed lateral connection. This has resulted in a dig and relay requirement for approximately 18 metres of the main wastewater pipe. The crack in the pipe a tomo or cavity: Brian Perry Civil is digging the road up, renewing the pipe, backfilling and compacting to prevent a sinkhole forming in the future.

•    Pipe alignment changes – we now need four manholes installed instead of two, as well as a lid replacement for one in poor condition. We will also coat the manholes to extend their life and prevent infiltration from water outside the wastewater network, easing the load on the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Message from our contractor

The contractor's crew took residents’ rubbish bins to the end of the street for collection this week and really appreciated the warm comments they received from some residents – thank you.

These dayworks will be undertaken by our contractor Brian Perry Civil, with these details:

Date: Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 September, dependent on weather.

Time: Working hours are intended to be kept between 9am – 5pm.

Nature of work and impact: The works will be asphalting to resurface the road – you can expect some noise and vibration during this time. We have also identified the need to coat two manholes, which will help to extend their life and prevent infiltration from water outside the wastewater network, easing the load on the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant. This additional task means the work will now need to take place over two days, enabling the preparation, application, and setting of the coating.

Road closure: The road will be closed to all vehicles except emergency services’ vehicles and residents’ vehicles. Cyclists and pedestrians will be able to come through, and the footpath will be accessible.

Parking restrictions: “No-park” road cones with signage requesting vehicles not to park between numbers 31 and 67 Holloway Road from Monday 21 September until works finish on Tuesday 22 September are scheduled to be installed on Friday 18 September.

Vehicle use: We would greatly appreciate it if you made alternative arrangements for your vehicle use on Monday 21 September until works finish on Tuesday 22 September, or minimised your travel if that is not possible. Due to working in manholes in the middle of the road, there may be periods of time where you may need to wait to get through. The site traffic management supervisor (STMS) will communicate the wait time on the spot.

We thank you for your patience as we deliver this final piece of work for the Aro Valley Wastewater Renewals programme in Holloway Road. 

Changes as advised 8 September:

Adams Terrace: Another week will be needed to complete lateral lining with a new estimated finish date of 25 September.

Landcross Street: This will now start on 14 September and be completed on the 25 September, all going to plan.

The reason for this programme change is unforeseen conditions on Maarama Crescent: a concrete blockage in the wastewater pipe meaning that we have to dig and relay a large section of pipe, with extra crews working on this.

Apologies for any inconvenience these changes may cause.

The final work in the Holloway Road section of the Aro Valley Wastewater Renewal project scheduled for this Wednesday 9 September is being postponed. We thank you for your patience and apologise for any inconvenience.

The traffic management plan has approval until Friday 25 September, so we are looking to reschedule the work before then – also as dayworks.

You can expect communication soon about this reschedule by letter, email, and website update.

We can now confirm the final works in the Holloway Road section of the Aro Valley Wastewater Renewal programme will be undertaken by our contractor Brian Perry Civil Ltd for a short, one-off period in the daytime. Please note these details:

Date: Wednesday 9 September

Time: Working hours are intended to be kept between 9am – 1pm. Potential extra time in the afternoon is provided for in the traffic management plan approved by the Wellington City Council Roading Authority.

Road closure: The road will be closed to all vehicles except emergency services’ vehicles and residents’ vehicles. There will be a two-hour period from 10am – noon when the road will need to be fully closed – except for emergencies – to complete resurfacing around manholes in the middle of the road. Cyclists and pedestrians will be able to come through.

Impact: We would greatly appreciate it if you made alternative arrangements for your vehicle use on 9 September or minimised your travel if that is not possible. The works will be restricted to asphalting to resurface the road – you can expect some noise and vibration during this time.

Any variations to this expected schedule will be notified on our website at www.tiakiwai.co.nz/aro-valley-wastewater, and via email. You can be added to the Holloway Road residents’ database to receive email updates by emailing engagement@tiakiwai.co.nz

Please reach out to us if you require support or have any questions or concerns. Our contact details are engagement@tiakiwai.co.nz, or 0800 TIAKI WAI (0800 842 549).

We thank you for your patience as we deliver this final piece of work for the Aro Valley Wastewater Renewal programme in Holloway Road.

We regret to inform Landcross Street residents that now that some two-thirds of the crew are on sick leave, we have are having to shift our construction work in your street once again.

The new expected dates are:

Manhole installation: 7-11 September

Lining of pipe: 14-16 September

Lateral joint repairs: 17-23 September.

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Unfortunately, half the crew is off sick, so we are now planning to start work in Landcross Ave on Thursday 27 August. Thanks for your understanding.

In response to unforeseen circumstances, we are shifting dates for construction in your neighbourhood – please check the revised schedule below for the new expected dates for your street.

Thank you for your understanding as we rescheduled our work programme due to weather delays, sick leave, and equipment repairs. Tiaki Wai water engineers have also been responding to unexpected challenges discovered in the ground – the earthernware wastewater network in Aro Valley is over a century old in some parts.

You will see in the schedule that we are working around the clock to deliver wastewater renewal work for Aro Valley as quickly as possible to minimise disruption.

We have different contractor teams from our contractor Brian Perry Civil Ltd rostered on both day and night works. If you see them out and about, feel free to give them a warm wave or smile – they’re working hard in the depth of winter.

Schedule of expected dates for construction work for the Aro Valley Wastewater Renewal project – as at 22 August

Firstly, we are glad to report that the final stage of work we had scheduled this week (Sunday 9 August to Thursday 13 August), as per our letter to you on 30 July, has gone well.

This has included completing lateral re-laying and fixing outstanding issues.

However, the cold temperatures this past week have affected the asphalting process, and we need to rely on a contingency date for finalising this.

The last night of work is now expected to be this Sunday 16 August, from 5pm to 5am.

However, this work is weather-dependent and may be pushed out to the next dry night.

A decision about whether the work will go ahead will be published on our website by 3pm on Sunday – or by the same time on consecutive days until the work has been completed.

You can check these decisions and updates at www.tiakiwai.co.nz/aro-valley-wastewater

Because the work involves ground compacting and laying asphalt, the works will be noisy. The high noise activity is scheduled before 11pm.

The same traffic management plan will be in place as for previous works, and please note there will be no work on Friday 14 or Saturday 15 August.

We know this project has created significant disruption and inconvenience for you and other residents on Holloway Road and neighbouring streets.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding as we do the final push to complete this important renewal work.

As part of our programme to repair and upgrade ageing wastewater pipes in Aro Valley, our contractors Brian Perry Civil will be doing night works from 162 to 206 Aro Street, beginning in early July (currently scheduled for 5 July). 

To minimise the excavation and noise created by these works, our contractors Brian Perry Civil Ltd are using trenchless, cured-in-place pipe lining technology where possible.  

The process of flushing the pipe, inserting the lining, curing it and then bringing the pipe back into service typically takes around eight hours, not including set up and packing down. This means we need to do these works overnight, to avoid lane closures on Aro Street during peak traffic times.  

We have worked closely with Wellington City Council’s roading team to develop this plan and are awaiting final sign off of the traffic management plan, however wanted to provide you with as much notice as possible of the currently scheduled works. If there are any changes, we will communicate these directly with you. 

Expected start date: Sunday 5 July 

Working hours: Sunday to Thursday, 6pm to 5am 

Location: 162 to 206 Aro Street, working from south to north. We are renewing the whole length of the pipe, but by using trenchless technology we can reduce the extent of lane closures and traffic management to five sections, as shown on the right. 

Expected duration: Five weeks / 25 work nights 

Once the pipe is re-lined, we will reline lateral connections to private property.  

Noise and disturbance created by these works 

There will be noise and vibration created by these works, including vehicles, generators and heavy equipment. To minimise the disturbance to residents, higher-noise activities such as concrete cutting will stop at 11pm each night. 

Our contractors will use acoustic “blankets” or covers around machinery, and have noise monitoring in place to manage sound levels. For most of the time, the main source of noise will be the re-lining equipment, which produces a steady hum, at a volume which doesn’t typically require ear protection.  

Traffic management 

The relining work will be done in segments, working up the street from number 162. Each segment will require one lane of the road to be closed, with a stop-go system in place to allow vehicles to move safely past the work site.  

Pedestrians and cyclists will also be directed around the site as needed. 

No car parks should be affected, and bus stops will be temporarily moved a short distance to continue safely operating. Driveways will remain open and accessible for residents. 

Why can’t these works be done during the day? 

The process of cleaning and inspecting each section of pipe, fully inserting the liner and curing it into place takes approximately eight hours, not including set up and pack down. Given Aro Street is a major thoroughfare, daytime works are usually limited to between 9am and 4pm (seven hours) to avoid lane closures during peak traffic flows. This means there isn’t enough time to finish the job during the day, and pausing halfway through would result in pipe blockages and overflows. 

Are there any other works planned in the area? 

This is part of a package of wastewater renewals happening across Aro Valley. There are currently other pieces of work happening at Holloway Road and Landcross Street, and future portions will cover Fairlie Terrace, Adams Terrace and Maarama Crescent. We are also planning to upgrade one of the drinking water pipes on Aro Street, and we will provide more information on each of these projects in the next few weeks. 

We appreciate this represents a significant disruption for local residents. We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate the community’s patience and understanding while we complete this important mahi.

The works involve relining or replacing the wastewater pipe as indicated in orange on the map below. Arrows indicate access points where manholes need to be installed, and the yellow circles indicate existing manholes which need to be accessed and potentially upgraded or repaired depending on their condition. 

The precise methodology and timing of this work may change due to the condition of the pipe, discovery of other underground services, or other unforeseen circumstances.