Photographic trip through the gully
A new book takes in the timeline of the Transmission Gully construction
Alastair Grant had a lightbulb moment before the Transmission Gully motorway construction began. “I thought it would be something worth photographing.”
He wanted to photograph the 27km long four-lane mega project north of Wellington from start to finish, and then create a pictorial book, that people could look at over the years.
That is what he has done with the publishing of his 120-page hardback book Transmission Gully Te Ara Nui o Te Rangihaeata — Celebration of a Motorway.
But first, he had to get permission from authorities so he drove to the project headquarters in Pauatahanui, from his home in Oriental Bay, and took the project’s public relations specialist Lauren McKenzie to lunch and outlined his plan. And for good measure, he showed them two of his published books including
Wellington’s Waterfront which was published in 2015, and Harbour, published in 2012, which is an exploration of inland harbours of the west coast of the North Island.
“She thought it was a good idea so we got to work and signed a contract a few days later.”
Alastair, who was an orthopaedic surgeon for about 50 years before retiring, had an interest in photography since he was young. “My father gave me one of those folding Kodak cameras when I was a teenager.”
He embarked on the Transmission Gully photographic adventure from early 2015 through until March 30 last year when it was opened.
Alastair would have about “80-odd” trips to the various construction zones where he would use his Canon 5D camera, and three lenses, as well as a drone, to document the progress.
“I had to do a full day’s health and safety induction course and was supplied with a hard hat, high visibility jacket, boots and safety glasses.
“Initially I was seconded to certain engineers but they would only cover a section of the motorway.
“But later the Wellington joint partnership provided me with drivers who could take me through the whole thing which was great.”
Tackling the project, in the beginning, was a bit daunting, but once he had a plan of attack, he embraced the opportunity.
“The best ideas tend to come to me at 3am. I was puzzling about how to make a motorway interesting. I suddenly thought I could break it down to seven points of interest.”
“I also tried to cover things that I thought would interest people pictorially.”
Alastair was “hugely impressed” by the motorway’s construction especially with “Bridge 20 [Te Ara a Toa] over Cannons Creek and earthworks at Wainui Saddle where they went down 70m which is a hell of a lot of dirt to shift”.
The book features numerous shots of the route in progress, machinery, infrastructure closeups, an opening ceremony, a timeline, maps, and more.
There’s even a photo of a metal cannonball weighing 53kg which excavation workers found below the Wainui Saddle.
Having such a close eye on the project, Alastair said, “I actually think that we got great value for money”.
His impression of the finished motorway was simple.
“I still love travelling on it even though I went over it 80 times while it was being built.
“It’s fantastic.”
Six hundred copies of the book have been published and are available in bookstores.