Northern Gateway Toll Road takes out top roading award
The Northern Gateway Toll Road has scooped another big award, winning top honours at the 2009 Roading Excellence Awards.
The project, which the NZTA opened in January 2009 and is New Zealand’s largest completed roading project, won the Shell Bitumen Excellence Award for a Major Road Project and took out the Roading New Zealand Supreme Award.
The $365 million toll road, built by the Northern Gateway Alliance, passed through historically rich and diverse landscapes, steep topography and local streams, which made it one of New Zealand's most challenging roading projects. The road was designed to create a visual showcase of environmental and engineering excellence.
Roading New Zealand chief executive Chris Olsen says the awards judges considered the Northern Gateway Toll Road to be an excellent example of a project that was meticulously planned and executed under a truly collaborative model.
'It is a testament to NZTA’s courage to embark on major and high-risk projects using this form of contractual arrangement,' Mr Olsen said, and it also demonstrates the New Zealand contracting industry’s ability to deliver these complex projects very successfully.
'As New Zealand embarks on a round of major roading infrastructure projects, it is very heartwarming to see the industry delivering such high calibre work. It augurs well for the future of the country’s highway network.'
The NZTA’s SH60 Eureka Bend Reinstatement also triumphed, winning the Goughs Excellence Award for a Minor Road Project.
The highway is the only road access to the Golden Bay and the project was undertaken after a major slip in 2006 cut off the area.
The Roading Excellence Awards are sponsored by Roading New Zealand and recognise excellence in the planning, design and construction of significant roading projects, as well as the development and implementation of best practice and collaboration in the roading industry.
