Waitaki Water Supply Pipeline
Last month Rationale’s David Somerville and Edward Guy were delighted to be invited to attend the opening of the brand new $6.7 million, 34km Oamaru to Hampden Water Supply Pipeline.
Led by Senior Infrastructure Advisor, David Somerville, Rationale worked closely with the Waitaki District Council to project manage the design, procurement and construction of the water supply pipeline project, designed to deliver Oamaru water to smaller rural communities and replace ageing river water systems.
A major driver of success for this project was a focus on the community health benefits and the importance of a more robust and reliable water supply. This raised awareness of the need for the pipeline, and crucially helped the project team gain access to land for the construction.
Waitaki District Council’s Assets Group Manager, Neil Jorgensen, said supplying A-grade water from the Oamaru network was a cost-effective way to improve the drinking supply for customers and to meet national Drinking Water Standards, which became law in 2007.
“Not only does the community now receive high quality water, their supply will no longer need to be turned off during flood events and or impacted by droughts. The pipeline also allows more capacity for population growth in the area.”
Mr Jorgensen paid tribute to everyone involved, including Council’s water team, local firm Whitestone Contracting Limited - who won the contract to complete the physical works, Dunedin-based design engineers Fluent Solutions, and Arrowtown-based company Rationale, who provided project management expertise.
The project involved a considerable amount of engagement and targeted communication with the community and importantly, 41 rural landowners to obtain right of way access for the pipeline.
This project was required to be completed in a timeframe between reticulation upgrades at both the upstream and downstream ends of the pipeline, that were to be performed by other designers and contractors.
Crucially important to the timeline was the timing of shutdowns for tie-ins and connections, as there were several water critical farming businesses on the system, as well as elderly rest homes that required uninterrupted service.
Rationale’s David Somerville was pleased to see project team’s hard work come to fruition, “we put in a lot of hard work on this project and developed some really strong partnerships between the client, construction contractors and the community. The result is a great outcome for the community and ensures safe water supply for years to come.”
Rationale’s David Somerville speaks at the opening event
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