Hon Simon Bridges

Minister of Transport

Nicky Wagner

Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration

Lianne Dalziel

Mayor of Christchurch

30 June 2017

Major Christchurch rebuild milestone achieved

The completion of construction for the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) programme is a major rebuild milestone, the Government and Christchurch City Council say.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges says the five-and-a-half-year project to repair Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged horizontal infrastructure was of one of the largest and most complex engineering programmes ever carried out in New Zealand.

“More than 1.38 million square metres of roading has been repaired and replaced. That’s almost twice the size of South Hagley Park — the scale of this programme is phenomenal,” Mr Bridges says.

“Christchurch now has a reliable functioning network of roads, and the Government — through the NZ Transport Agency — will continue to support the city with ongoing repair, maintenance and improvements to the network, as well as transport system development.”

Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration Nicky Wagner says the completion of construction is a significant milestone in the regeneration process.

“The scale of the work required after the quakes of 2010 and 2011 was daunting. I’m delighted SCIRT is handing fully functioning networks back to the Council,” Ms Wagner says.

“Almost 80 per cent of the work involved the underground networks — fresh water, wastewater and stormwater — as well as pump stations. No doubt this work, at some point or another, frustrated almost every Christchurch resident, but the reward for our patience is quality infrastructure designed to endure.”

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel says the SCIRT model is a great example of local and central government collaboration.

“The SCIRT Alliance, funded by the Council and the Crown, gave the city the capacity to restore the three-waters and roading networks in a way that would not otherwise have been possible,” Ms Dalziel says

"With the handover of the networks, Christchurch City will have a greater knowledge of its underground assets than any other city in the country, which will enable an asset management system second to none. This is one of the real legacies of the earthquakes.

“There is still work to be done, especially with footpaths and roads. The organisation has set up the new 3 Waters Capital Programme Directorate to manage the city’s water, stormwater and wastewater systems into the future.”

ends

© Scoop Media