Live camera reveals River Rd work
River Road remains closed for a major culvert replacement job but modern technology means people can still see what’s going on.
A live camera has been stationed above the site since work began replacing the Te Awa O Katapaki Stream culvert next to the Horsham Downs golf course in early July – people click here to see the latest picture which updates every two minutes.
The $1 million Hamilton City Council project has been designed and managed by AECOM, who are uploading slideshows and timelapse videos to You Tube each week to keep the community informed.
Project engineer John Kinghorn says the feedback is good. “We are getting great feedback about the website from locals and people who regularly use River Road, as they are able to follow progress daily and keep up to date with what’s happening on site.
“The work is progressing well, with most of the digging done and environmental controls in place.”
Hamilton City Council city development manager Martin Mould said: “While people living on River Road still have access to their homes there has been some inconvenience for traffic in the area. It is a large project and we need detours in place for the duration of the job. But people see the scale of the work and know why the detours are there.”
In early August a crane started lifting the 20-tonne culvert sections into place. They measure 3.5m by 4m and there are 29 sections to go in.
The culvert is just south of the intersection of River Rd with Kay Rd and detours have been in place from Wairere Dr via Resolution Dr, Borman Rd, North City Rd and Kay Rd.
The new culvert includes a fish passage for native fish, including giant kokopu, to head upstream from the Waikato River. Giant kokopu are, after eels, New Zealand’s largest native freshwater fish – while threatened nationally, they are moderately common in the central Waikato.
