Hutchinson Consulting Engineers were engaged by Auckland Transport on this important joint-venture project between AT, Auckland Council Healthy Waters and NZTA to provide the engineering investigation, design, and construction management of a replacement culvert structure under Te Arai Point Road.
The project was subject to a series of sensitive Resource Consent approvals being located along an important feeding passage for the highly endangered Tara Iti (Fairy Tern), between Te Arai Stream and the Slipper and Spectacle Lakes. Also falling within an area of broader ecological restoration driven by local iwi Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust, who have managed the revegetation of over 1.3 kilometers of Te Arai Stream, the culvert replacement project required careful navigation of the civil infrastructure and transport requirements, ecological sensitivities and cultural values.
The significant stormwater culvert provides improved drainage passage to the nearby Te Arai Drainage Board managed rural stormwater network, and provides significantly improved fish migration for native fish breeding as a primary food source to the Tara Iti.
The physical works were completed by local contractors Wharehine Ltd and were successfully delivered with great appreciation from a wide array of invested stakeholders in mid-2026.
