$21m renewal of Timaru water pipeline on target
Shipping disruptions due to Covid-19 have not significantly hit work on the Pareora pipeline renewal, the Timaru District Council has been advised.
Work on the $20.9 million project, which will upgrade 37 kilometres of pipeline from the Pareora River intake to the Claremont treatment plant and storage reservoirs, began in January.
The council’s group manager district services Ashley Harper told Tuesday’s council meeting getting pipes and materials was challenging.
‘‘The biggest issue is shipping both in New Zealand and out. But at this stage it’s OK. It will be interesting to see what happens next year, but that is out of our control.’’
Asked by Cr Steve Wills if costs had risen since the project began, Harper said the costs had been locked in with contractors.
By the end of May, 11,300 metres of pipe had been installed which was about 60 per cent of the 15.1km first stage of the project from the river to the Pareora Gorge, and was expected to be completed in September.
Stage 2 construction over 4.9km along the Pareora Gorge started in Octo- ber.
Stage 3, 17.7km from the gorge to the reservoir, has been contracted to Paul Smith Earthmoving and was due to start this month lasting 52 weeks with an expected finish date in May 2022.
The Pareora River intake supplies about 60 per cent of the water consumed in Timaru. The existing pipeline was installed in the 1930s and the council said it was in very poor condition in some sections with part of it traversing unstable land, creating a significant risk to the water supply if it failed.
The project is funded by a loan financed by urban water supply ratepayers via a uniform annual charge.