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Kaitoke Flume Bridge Seismic Resilience Scheme

Future proofing Wellington’s raw water supply in a major earthquake with a new bridge and a seismically resilient pipe

  • $30M

    Project Value

  • 45m

    Steel Bridge

  • 140m³

    Raw Water Daily

  • Kaitoke, New Zealand

    Kaitoke, New Zealand

A more accessible and ‘flexible’ bridge offers innovative solutions to maintain Wellington’s water supply in a seismic event

The Flume Bridge in Kaitoke Regional Park provides much more than a crossing for park users, it also supports a water pipeline conveying approximately 50 per cent of Greater Wellington’s raw water supply. Nearing the end of its lifecycle, and located in the seismically active Wellington Fault zone, Wellington Water knew the pipe needed an upgrade to keep water flowing in the future.

Our role would be to design and deliver a new bridge and pipeline and oversee construction. Along with seismic activity, the location’s challenging geology presents fractured rock and shear zones. In response, our team designed an unconstrained flexible network arch bridge, which can move freely in multiple directions on its abutments while carrying a new ductile iron pipe. Specially sourced from Japan, it’s the largest pipe of this type to be used in New Zealand.

Even in a large earthquake, the sympathetic movement of the bridge and the ductile pipe will allow the water supply to be maintained. Not only are we future-proofing Wellington’s water supply in a major earthquake but the bridge also includes improvements for accessing the bridge deck, so those using mobility devices can also enjoy stunning views from the bridge.

At a Glance

Offices
Client
  • Wellington Water
  • Greater Wellington Regional Council
Partners
  • Holmes Consulting

Wellington’s water seismic resilience scheme

Future proofing Wellington’s raw water supply in a major earthquake with a new bridge and a seismically resilient pipe.

Meet Our Team

Ioannis Antonopoulos, Technical Director

Caring for our communities means learning all we can about the land and geology where people live and work.

April Peckham, Principal Planner

I support clients to obtain statutory approvals, while also helping keep our communities safe and protect our environment.

Hayden Pipe, Senior Principal Civil Engineer

In my role, it's essential to work collaboratively. Working together successfully on the delivery of projects gives me great satisfaction.

Harish Painuly, Graduate Civil Engineering Technologist

I’m excited to see my designs come to life on site while monitoring their construction.

Louise Hamilton, Senior Landscape Architect

Landscape architecture is seeing and understanding all the layers in the environment, then enriching that place through thoughtful design.

Ioannis Antonopoulos

Technical Director

April Peckham

Principal Planner

Hayden Pipe

Senior Principal Civil Engineer

Harish Painuly

Graduate Civil Engineering Technologist

Louise Hamilton

Senior Landscape Architect

We’re better together

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  • Design your career

    Work with passionate people who are experts in their field. Our teams love what they do and are driven by how their work makes an impact on the communities they serve.

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