Delivering resilience at pace

WAIKATO 50

Waikato 50 was part of Watercare’s drought response programme, bringing forward elements of the planned upgrade of the existing Waikato Water Treatment Plant. This project increased the capacity of the plant by 50 MLD to 225 MLD. It provides an interim capacity increase that will over time be incorporated into a larger 250 MLD upgrade.

The project is part of a larger treatment and transmission upgrade programme to increase capacity of water supply to Auckland and improve drought resilience. Waikato 50 comprises a new standalone 50 MLD treatment plant that is a mix of temporary and permanent works, a booster pump station located in Drury, and minor upgrades at the delivery inlet at the Redoubt Road reservoir site. The works included a temporary treatment plant, a pipeline from the river to the facility, and a new pumping station. The scheme is the largest single drought recovery project in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The project is an exemplar of optimised infrastructure delivery at scale and pace, incorporating digital tools to manage complex risk while protecting the existing Water Treatment Plant on site, which supplies 30% of Auckland’s potable water.

RLB’s role was to assist in establishing the project cost estimates, support fast-tracked contracting of works, help establish cost control procedures and provide post-contract cost management. This required collaboration with multiple parties from client-side capital delivery, property, legal and procurement teams, design consultants, contractors, to equipment suppliers and subcontractors.

Designed, consented, procured, constructed, and commissioned in just over 12 months, the pressure to deliver a fully operational plant and network improvements within an almost impossible timeframe called for a radical and unique approach to delivery.