A project to strengthen and reinforce the Whakatāne and Ōhope wharves will also build the local economy by employing local workers, including welders, labourers and a safety co-ordinator.
The Whakatāne Town Wharf Remediation Project starts in earnest next week when successful contractors, Construction Techniques Ltd (trading as BBR Contech) arrive on site. Safety fencing will be erected and the contractor's compound will be set up on the eastern end of the wharf to allow construction to begin.
The Ōhope Wharf upgrade begins in a few weeks’ time.
The Whakatāne Town Wharf Remediation Project has received support from the Provincial Growth Fund. It will provide training and employment opportunities for local people, including those affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19.
The project is the first of the infrastructure projects associated with the Whakatāne Regeneration Programme to kick off. The programme is a partnership between Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and Whakatāne District Council. The repaired wharf provides the platform, literally, for the proposed riverfront promenade associated with the town’s future riverfront revitalisation project.
Conversations with iwi, hapū and community stakeholders on the wider regeneration programme, which includes the town wharf upgrade, is being planned and engagement will take place in the next few months.
Both wharves will remain open most of the time that construction work is underway, although visitors and those working and living nearby will notice noise from the works. Vessels moored on the structure will be relocated to safe berthage nearby, and can be permanently located in the proposed new Boat Harbour when this is completed.
The programme partners are making sure local people receive job and training opportunities as a result of the wharf upgrade projects.
For the repair of Whakatāne and Ohope wharves, the following positions will be advertised from early August:
- Welders (one or two depending on the volume of steel repairs)
- Formworker / Labourers (six or seven required)
- Quality and Safety Coordinator (one required)
Local people will work alongside highly experienced specialists in the field and receive any training required. From day-to-day tasks, including operating a small boat under the Specified Limits plan, erecting and handling scaffolding, breaking out spalled concrete, carrying out reinforcing repairs, to erecting and stripping formwork.
Training may include working safely on construction sites, hazard management and safe use of construction tools - forklift operation; basic reinforcement tying skills; formwork and falsework fabrication; erection and stripping; concrete placing, pumping and spraying.
Prospective applicants for the work are requested to make contact with their local MSD representative or email Wharf Remediation Project Manager Phil Wardale via info@whakatane.govt.nz.
The construction of the Whakatāne Town Wharf began more than 100 years ago in 1919. Ohope Wharf was built in the 1950s. Both require maintenance and strengthening to ensure they are safe and fit for purpose. This will include replacing and strengthening piles and concrete structures underneath the structures.
The Whakatāne Town Wharf Remediation is funded by the Whakatāne District Council and the Provincial Growth Fund. It is the first step in a wider project that enables Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa and Whakatāne District Council to work together for better social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits for all of the Whakatāne Region.
Find out more about this project »
