Books for bulldozer
Seven years ago, Shannan Bell went from bookworm to bulldozer driver.
Bell was with a friend when she visited A&R Earthworks in Tauranga.
She spent a few hours in a 40-tonne dump truck with its driver and loved it.
The next day, the company rang her up and asked if she would like to do some work there, as someone had called in sick.
‘‘That was awesome, as I was on my study break from studying to be an accountant and I said of course, that would be awesome. And I never went back.’’
She spent the next 18 months there learning to drive trucks before joining Fulton Hogan and moving on to bulldozers.
Bell eventually did finish her studies and obtained an accountancy qualification, but has no interest in an office job.
These days the 26-year-old works for New Zealand Transport Agency as a Fulton Hogan contractor on the Waikato Expressway.
She’s been part of the project since the day dot and is looking forward to its completion in 2020.
‘‘I love it – I have so much fun. There are so many challenges with this whole industry and especially being a female.
‘‘I guess I was a bit naive with what was involved with the industry initially – there are definitely challenges involved working in a male-dominated industry.
‘‘It’s pretty tough, but you do get to prove a point as well.’’
Bell was raised by her grandparents and they initially wanted her to stick to accounting or become a lawyer.
However, having seen what she does, Bell now has their full support.
The Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway is 15.2km, stretching between Ohinewai and Ngãruawãhia. It runs east of Huntly and runs through the Taupiri Range.
Two of the nine bridges are now open to construction traffic and work is well under way on the other seven.
NZTA said that in February, the team will start work connecting the Huntly section to the Gordonton Road interchange. This means the southbound free-flow lane access on to the Ngãruawã hia section will close permanently and access to the expressway from Taupiri will be via the roundabouts above the expressway.
Closing the free-flow lane will not affect travel times significantly, but is a layout change that motorists will have to be aware of from February 12.