30 July 2015

MEDIA RELEASE

Opus celebrates as the Prime Minister officially cuts the ribbon on the Tauranga Eastern Link

Opus International Consultants (Opus) celebrated the official completion of the Tauranga Eastern Link today as Prime Minister John Key cut the ribbon on the $455m project.

The project is a one of the Government’s original seven Roads of National Significance and will improve traffic flow to the Port of Tauranga from the east.

It plays a key part in the overall goals of increasing journey reliability, providing a safer travel routes, reducing travel time in and out of the Bay of Plenty, and enabling a heavy transport route for logging and kiwi fruit exports.

“Opus was proud to be part of a project that will have such a positive impact on regional and national growth and productivity. It was a delight to work alongside other industry leaders to create this absolutely world-class infrastructure solution,” says Peter Mathewson, Opus’ New Zealand’s Managing Director.

The NZ Transport Agency awarded the project to a joint venture between Fulton Hogan and HEB Construction in 2010, with Aecom (formerly known as URS) and Opus providing design and construction services, and specialist support by Gaia and Bartley consultants.

“The Tauranga Eastern Link had a number of challenging conditions, soft ground and a high water table where roads from five directions met required a complex interchange solution. We were able to incorporate many innovative, affordable, and sustainable solutions including elevating the new link road and using a combination of bridges and lightweight fill materials to accelerate construction.” says Opus General Manager of Business Development and Growth Keryn Kliskey.

The Tauranga Eastern Link extends from Te Maunga to the State Highway 2 intersection with State Highway 33 at Paengaroa. It is 21 kilometres long and includes widening of approximately 6 kilometres of State Highway 2 to a four lane expressway, and 15 kilometres of green-fields alignment of four lane tolled motorway.

ENDS

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