PJK Expressway
Roads of their nature are hard, flat and straight; estuaries and the tortured remnants of New Zealand's volcanic formation are not. It follows that management of geotechnical risk was a critical design issue for Tauranga's PJK Expressway project, constructed through some of the most challenging estuarine swamp and volcanic soil conditions in New Zealand.
Route K in flood (click to enlarge).
An aerial shot of Route J shortly before completion, with the Waihi Rd Interchange in the forground looking towards downtown Tauranga (click to enlarge).
Int bridge under construction
(click to enlarge).
The expressway project comprises three interconnected routes: route P (the Peninsula Expressway,0.5km), which gives access to the city centre and port; route J (the Judaea Valley Expressway, 3.1km) which runs north, bypassing residential streets, to State Highway 2; and route K (Kopurererua Valley Expressway, 4.5km) from the central interchange in the Judea industrial area to State Highway 29 to Hamilton.
The project is designed to release the city of Tauranga from the stranglehold of traffic, growing as a result of rapid urban sprawl and the Port of Tauranga's Sulphur Point and Mt Maunganui port facilities (Conceptual statement).
Project Management
The Expressway project is managed by Opus International Consultants for joint principals Transit NZ and the Tauranga District Council (TDC). Funding for routes P, J and K comes from TDC while Western Bay of Plenty District Council is a minor funding contributor. As a result – perhaps indicative of things to come nationwide – route K is a toll road, with a user-fee payable each way.
The construction contract is the largest single roading contract ever awarded in New Zealand. Construction is being undertaken by a joint venture between SmithBridge and Fulton Hogan Construction, to conforming designs from Beca and Opus. From the outset the client partners and the joint venture were interested in innovative alternative solutions to the not inconsiderable technical difficulties they faced. Accordingly, Holmes Consulting Group and Tonkin & Taylor have been involved with the joint venture partners from day one, and as a result approximately 70% of the project is now to an alternative design. While the separation is not absolute, generally Holmes Consulting have worked with Mt Maunganui-based SmithBridge on alternative designs for bridges, with Tonkin & Taylor handling the geotechnical issues.
This case study is reproduced with permission from e.nz magazine. Subscriptions to e.nz are discounted for schools and TENZ members.
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