Bridge build leads to career foothold
Eight New Plymouth secondary school students have built a bridge leading to future career opportunities.
Building the new Camden St footbridge over the Huatoki River gave the eight students valuable job skills and the option of a future in construction when they leave school.
The students worked on the bridge almost every Thursday for nine months, learning about design principles and how to handle the tools and materials.
The training programme was a partnership of NPDC, NZIHT School of Engineering, Energy and Infrastructure, WITT, Fulton Hogan, WSP and Taranaki Futures, while Whitaker Civil Engineering and Downer Group helped find tutors.
New Plymouth District Council group manager planning and infrastructure David Langford says the old bridge needed replacing.
“We saw an opportunity for our Taranaki Talent Pipeline careers programme to support much-needed training in the expanding infrastructure and construction sector while giving some of our young people on-the-job skills and a solid grounding in health and safety.
“As the project leader, New Plymouth District Council can save costs in the long term by ensuring high-quality workmanship which will extend the lifespan of the new bridge. We hope these students will find rewarding careers and help us keep
building a Sustainable Lifestyle Capital and maybe lead similar projects to pass on their skills in the future.”
The eight students who came from five schools — Inglewood High, Francis Douglas Memorial College, Spotswood, Te Kura and Coastal — now have their names on a plaque at the bridge to celebrate the partnership and their training experience.
William Faoagali, a student at Francis Douglas, says the project had shown the students a good pathway and together they had achieved their goals.
“I enjoyed all the laughter and memories made. It really showed that in a work environment like civil engineering and
infrastructure that no matter what culture, religion or colour you are, we are all willing to accept one another.”
NZIHT programme manager Jan Kivell says the project couldn’t have had a better group of students and she felt proud watching their confidence grow.
“The collaboration between WITT, Fulton Hogan, WSP and NPDC was fantastic and demonstrated what can happen when different organisations come together to achieve a common goal.”
With the success of the Build a Bridge project, the Taranaki Pipeline partners are looking at other possible projects to expand the training programme.