Piling rig breakage halts college work
WHATEVER lies beneath the University of Otago’s new $102 million Te Rangihiroa residential college could have broken the machine used to lay its foundations.
The piledriving rig used on the site on the corner of Albany and Forth Sts in Dunedin has been damaged and work has stopped while repairs are awaited and a new method for piling is considered.
A university spokesman said ground conditions at the site of the 450bed hall of residence had forced a change to the previous piling methodology.
As the proposed changes to the work programme were still under review, he would not speculate on whether the situation would affect the project’s budget. However, it was still expected to be completed on time by April 2023, he said.
The main contractor, Southbase Construction, began excavating the southern end of the site in December.
When the work was announced by the university, campus development division director David Perry said the new college would have 186 piles, which were expected to be in the ground by the last quarter of this year.
A test pile had been done to check the piling methodology and to monitor noise and vibration, producing less of both than anticipated.
The pile holes would be bored by a piling rig and a steel casing inserted to hold reinforcing steel in place while the concrete was poured. The casing would be removed.
At present, Southbase and the piling contractor were awaiting approval from the engineer on the variation to the piling methodology, the spokesman said.
Other ground work continued on the site.
The piling rig was expected to be repaired in the coming days.
And all offsite design, fabrication and manufacturing continued.
Geotechnical investigations and test piling had been undertaken before work began on site, but variations were common on a project of this scale, he said.
In a report to the university council tabled this week, the university said the April 2023 completion date for the project remained in place.
But the project team would look into options to finish construction earlier to allow occupancy from the start of the 2023 academic year, the report said.
Te Rangihiroa will be the first purposebuilt University of Otago residential college in more than 50 years.
The new college is intended to replace the existing 125bed Te Rangi Hiroa College, which is within the new Dunedin Hospital precinct.