Christchurch Northern Corridor | Waimak Bridge Extension

Scope of Work

A part of the NZTA Christchurch Northern Corridor project, which links SH 74 south of the Waimakariri River, to QEII Drive and Cranford Street. 

The upgrade included a new four-lane motorway just south of the Waimakariri Motorway Bridge and the addition of two lanes to the bridge (one north and one southbound). Plus an additional shared cycle and pedestrian walkway.

Pegasus Engineering was contracted to make the 22,000 sq m steel substrates and Hendriks Blasting was contracted to apply arc and zinc spray seal coatings.

The $1.2m project included galvanizing signs and painting a shared cycle/pedestrian walkway.

Actions

The substrates all needed to be coated to strict specifications governing protection and strength, in time for its installation in early December 2019.

Hendriks Blasting applied:

• The Carbozinc® 11 system from Carboline @ 125 DFT (Dry Film Thickness).
• Hendriks Blasting had to work with very challenging weather conditions, including very low humidity around 30%. Ideal humidity is around 60% for the micron requirement.

Despite the challenges, Hendriks successfully completed coating the large bridge substrates, delivered them on-site and on time and to the manufacturer’s strict specification.

The Result

The quality and final presentation of Hendriks’ work was described as extremely high in the quality control report from product suppliers, Altex Coatings Ltd.

A high quality, well-protected, long-lasting bridge substrate that will survive its purpose and the elements for many more decades to come; is the end result.

The Christchurch Northern Corridor is the first alliance contract of its size in the South Island. It’s an alliance between the NZ Transport Agency, Christchurch City Council, Fulton Hogan, Aurecon and Jacobs.

The northern corridor aims to ease travel times in and out of Christchurch City, via Main North Road, Marshland Road and the Western Belfast Bypass (SH1).