Fletcher Construction worked on the Waterview Connection Project, which involved building a tunnel connecting two highways in Auckland. The assistant worked on the No. 9 Sewer Diversion project, which involved installing a new sewer pipeline to allow excavation for the tunnel. Duties included overseeing construction, environmental monitoring, and documentation. Additional mini-projects involved relocating a weather station and addressing how the pipeline intersected a sports field and access road. Observation of other works provided valuable experience in construction processes and stakeholder engagement. The project experience overall prepared the assistant well for a career as a site engineer.

1. Photos:
Top: view of the tunnel boring machine in the Southern Approach Trench.
Bottom left: No. 9 Sewer Diversion trench, looking back at laid pipe and backfill.
Bottom Right: No. 9 Sewer Diversion trench, looking forward.
Practical Work Report
Friday 14th March 2014
For: Jade Littleton (1549126)
Jade Littleton
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Employer: Fletcher Construction
Address: Level One, 816 Great South Road, Penrose
Dates of work: 12-11-2012 to 22-02-2013

2. Summary
Fletcher is a well-known name in the New Zealand construction industry founded in 1908 in
Dunedin. Since then the company has grown substantially in both size and strength. Fletcher
construction has joined with several other engineering companies as part of the Well-Connected
Alliance which has been formed to undertake the Waterview Connection Project which will connect
SH20 to SH16, the final step in completing Auckland’s motorway network.
During my time as part of the Well-Connected Alliance I worked on the No. 9 Sewer Diversion. Seven
lateral sewer lines crossing the Hendon Reserve had to be decommissioned to allow excavation of
the main tunnel trench. This involved the installation of a 1km pipeline running along the edge of the
excavation that would pick up each of these existing pipelines.
My work on this project included construction and earthwork supervision, environmental checks,
contract documentation and general site engineer tasks. The skills I gained from my work on this
project have set me up well to begin work as a site engineer.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following person for their contributions to my development as an Engineer.
Mark Mullaney for giving me the opportunity to organise projects, and helping me at every step,
explaining all the works to me and organising days to see other works.

3. Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1
2.0 The Waterview Connection Project..................................................................................................1
3.0 No. 9 Sewer Diversion.......................................................................................................................1
3.1 My extra mini projects............................................................................................................2
3.2 Observed Activities .................................................................................................................4
3.3 Other work..............................................................................................................................5
4.0 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................5
Table of Figures
Figure 1: View of pipe ending prior to the sports field...........................................................................3
Figure 2: Sewer Diversion Outfall ...........................................................................................................3
Figure 3: Clegg Hammer..........................................................................................................................4

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1.0 Introduction
Fletcher is a well-known name in the New Zealand construction industry. It began as a company
called Fletcher and Morris, founded by Albert Morris, and James and William John Fletcher in 1908
in Dunedin. Since then the company has grown substantially in both size and strength. The company
now runs under the name Fletcher Building which is split into five divisions which are further split
into subsidiary companies.
Fletcher Construction is one of two subsidiaries that make up the Construction Division, the other
being Fletcher Residential. Fletcher Construction then splits again into four sectors; Infrastructure,
Building and Interiors, Earthquake Recovery, and South Pacific. Under Infrastructure Fletcher has
three key brands and businesses; Brian Perry Civil, Piletech, and Pipeworks.
Fletcher construction has joined with the NZ Transport Agency, McConnell Dowell, Beca
Infrastructure, Tonkin & Taylor, Parsons Brinkerhoff, and Obayashi Corporation as part of the Well-
Connected Alliance which has been formed to undertake the Waterview Connection Project which
will connect SH20 to SH16, the final step in completing Auckland’s motorway network.
2.0 The Waterview Connection Project
The Waterview Connection Project is the last step in completing Auckland’s motorway network. It
will provide a route for West and South Auckland to compute having to travel through Spaghetti
Junction, a bottleneck in the system. After years of debates on where this section of motorway
would go and whether it would be a road or an over bridge it was decided that a tunnel would be
necessary to keep all the stakeholders content. This option involved having two construction sites,
one at the Southern end in Hendon Reserve and the other at the Northern end in the Waterview
reserve.
Due to the many volcanic cones in Auckland there are layers and pockets of basalt caused by lava
flows. Under this basalt there is, in most parts, clay. Tunnel boring machines (TBM) are unable to
bore through basalt, so an excavation had to be made to allow the TBM to tunnel under the basalt,
through the soft clay. At the Southern approach this meant needing to excavate 34m down. The
length of road needed to slope down to the tunnel face was about 700m so the extent of the
Southern Approach work site dominated Hendon Reserve. At the Northern Approach there was no
basalt so the depth of the excavation was only determined by design.
This project is one of the largest civil construction projects to be undertaken in New Zealand with a
price tag of $1.6 billion and the use of the 10th
largest TBM in the world. To undertake such a large
scale project the works were split into many mini projects that could take place apart from one
another, at the same or different times, and right alongside each other.
3.0 No. 9 Sewer Diversion
During my time as part of the Well-Connected Alliance I only worked on a very small part of the
project, none the less this part was but one of many significant pieces in the grand scheme of things.
The mini project that I worked on was a Watercare Services Ltd pipeline; the No. 9 Sewer Diversion.
In order to allow the main Southern Approach Trench excavation, seven lateral sewer lines that

5. 2 | P a g e
crossed the Hendon Reserve had to be decommissioned. This involved the installation of a 1km
pipeline running along the edge of the excavation that would pick up each of these existing
pipelines. In order to allow the excavations to make a start while this mini project was underway, the
new line was to be live. To do this the pipeline began at the lowest point and was connected to a
sewer trunk near the tunnel face. As each of the laterals were connected to the new line they were
decommissioned allowing for the excavation beneath them. This work began near the future tunnel
face and continued south.
This pipeline was placed up to 5m at the deepest point and for most of the length of the pipeline
very solid basalt had to be excavated. The excavation of this basalt began to hold up in the sewer
diversion. A hold up on this mini project would hold up the entire project so an ingenious plan was
necessary. It was decided that the live sewage from the next lateral pipe would be diverted using an
overland flow pipe. This allowed the next lateral pipe to be decommissioned and the project as a
whole continued on as if nothing had happened.
3.1 My extra mini projects
With many other mini projects going on in conjunction with the No 9 Sewer Diversion it
came as no surprise that certain items had been placed above the intended excavation
path for the new sewer line. As moving or rectifying these things was an unforeseen
part of the project they became great extra mini projects for me to undertake.
The Weather station
As part of the Waterview Connection Project air quality and dust levels needed to be
recorded, as well general weather records. When the weather station was set up it
was in a nice quiet corner of a car park. But this spot was right on top of where the
sewer would be placed.
To move this station I had to complete the necessary contract documentation; a
work break down structure (WBS), a method statement and a Job Safety and
Environmental Analysis (JSEA). I had to liaise with the technician that installed the
station, letting them know it needed to be moved, figuring out the process for this
and finding a suitable place to put it. Once all of this had been done I was able to
organise the men and plant needed to move it.
Site access
The Sewer Diversion pipeline needed to cross the only light vehicle access into site.
This caused a lot of logistic issues. At the time there was ample parking on site, but
only one entrance for everyday workers and very little offsite parking. Many
solutions were thought up such as fast tracking an alternative entrance through a
side street and into a sports field that would soon become site parking. Although I
fully investigated this option, creating a WBS, method statement and JSEA, it was
not possible due to the late hand over of new sports fields elsewhere on the project
delaying the takeover of this particular field.

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The final solution was to allow workers to enter the site through site access points
(SAP) before 7am and leave after 6pm to park in the site parking. This meant that if
you parked on site you could not leave during work hours. This option worked ok as
a good deal of workers worked during these hours but many still parked in the
residential streets around site which caused some issues with residents in the area.
Sports fields
The sports field mentioned above (in the site
access section) also caused a need for re-
planning. The pipeline soon needed to cross
through one corner of the field. At this point
the new pipe was nearing an end with only one
last lateral left to pick up. This one lateral was
not on the critical path for the project as a
whole but to complete the line before winter it
was not an option to wait for the handover of
the sports field.
The solution was to skip the section of pipe
that would cross the sports field, leaving a gap
in the pipeline which would be connected once
the field was handed over. This would mean
that this section of pipe would not be live but
this would not affect other site works as it
would have previously.
Sewer Outfall Installation
At the lower end of the pipe an overflow outfall into Oakley Creek was being
installed. The outfall pipe itself had been planned and was being installed when the
idea developed, by a few of the workers
installing it, that the outfall was in a section of
the reserve that was frequented by
pedestrians so instead of constructing a plain
concrete outfall we should construct a nice
stone wall beneath it to tie the work into the
design of the rest of the creek work going on
further upstream.
For this I contacted three stonemasons for
quotes, all of which were far too expensive. It
was decided that the men working on the
outfall would try their hand at masonry. This
worked out very well, with the final product
being of the same quality as an experienced
Figure 1: View of pipe ending prior to the
sports field
Figure 2: Sewer Diversion Outfall

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stone masons work.
In the planning of this work extra care was taken with the environmental protection
of the creek. Oakley Creek is the only open air creek in Auckland and has a large
amount of wild life and fish living in it. Due to the use of mortar on the stream bank
we had to be sure to prevent any contamination of the creek. To do this we made a
barrier in the stream bed around the outfall using concrete barriers such as those
used on roads, placed a waterproof liner over the barrier, and between the barrier
and the bank. We then placed sandbags to hold the liner in place to seal off our area
from the creek. We then kept a pump at the ready to pump away any water inside
our contained work zone.
3.2Observed Activities
While onsite I was able to observe many of the other mini projects. But in particular I
spent a full day observing and assisting two separate projects.
Richardson Road Over Pass
Firstly I spent a day on Richardson Road Over Pass Bridge while the concrete deck
was being laid. I was tasked with checking the concrete truck’s dockets to be sure
the correct concrete was being delivered. There were 14 truckloads of concrete,
with loads ranging between four and six cubic meters. I assisted a technician from
Firth to carry at sump tests and add any necessary additives to the mix.
A Day in the Sewer Trench
When I started on the Sewer Diversion I spent a day in the trench to better my
understanding of the process of laying and backfilling over the pipe. I observed and
assisted in the whole process. Firstly a 200mm layer of drainage was laid and
compacted with a plate compactor, followed by a few pipe segments, the gap 20 laid
either side of the pipes and compacted in
200mm lifts. Once these layers were more
than half way up the pipe the winches
holding the pipes together could be
released. The gap 20 was then continued
until it was one meter above the pipe. Then
the gap 20 was compacted use a smooth
roller. Throughout this process a clegg
hammer was used to check the compaction.
Nuclear densometer tests were carried out
weekly to check the validity of the clegg
hammer results. A segment of the shoring
system was then picked up by an excavator
and moved forward so that the process
could continue. Figure 3: Clegg Hammer

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3.3Other work
Prior to working on the No 9 Sewer Diversion Project I spent two weeks working for the
Communications team in the Waterview community. During this time I spent a lot of
time out and about in the community handing out brochures and newsletters about the
works, asking passers-bys whether they had any questions, explaining the works, and
going door to door around the neighbourhood asking residents for praise and
complaints. I found this to be one of the most important experiences while on this
project. The Waterview suburb had recently had two of its main entrances cut off by
the works leaving only one road in and out of their community. Prior to shutting the
community off residents were disgruntled by the coming inconvenience but after the
fact most residents were rather pleased at how little traffic there now was. They felt
that the streets were safer for their children and quieter. Most residents were eager to
find out what was happening on the project and to the streets around them so were
pleased to have us out there to inform them.
The Well-Connected Alliance then held a free BBQ for the residents where they gave
them a glimpse of works and informed people of works to come and how it will affect
them. The residents went away from this event very happy, comments were made
about how it was the first time many of them had talked to their neighbours and that
the event had brought the community together.
Residents were also very appreciative of the temporary playground and volleyball court
supplied in the reserve for the duration of the works and were looking forward to the
finished playground at the end of works which will include a BMX track and a skate
park.
4.0 Conclusions
I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to work on such an amazing project. Not only did I learn
a lot about the project I was on but I also learnt about all the other works going on around it and was
able to observe a good deal of it.
I learnt a lot about the importance of communication. Be it between an engineer and a workman,
between engineers on different projects and communication with stakeholders, especially residents.
I learnt about the organisation required for a project such as the contract documentation, ordering
of materials, and organising the plant and men to undertake the work. I believe the skills I gained on
this project have set me up well to begin work as a site engineer.