Running water through rock
Baylys Beach Watermain Renewal

In March 2018, we started working on the $1.1m Baylys Beach Watermain Renewal project for the Kaipara District Council (KDC).

With the existing AC watermain nearing the end of its useful life, KDC decided to add pipe down the entire 5km stretch of Baylys Coast Road.

Our 12 onsite staff plus subcontractors had mostly worked the site previously, on stage one of the same contract and were therefore prepared for the challenges ahead. The latter included starting pipe-laying at the beginning of Baylys Coast Road, before running it under the Kaihu River and over State Highway 12, to finish back on Baylys Coast Road.

Another major challenge was the need to cut through rock, before drilling-in the line. This work encompassed 40% of the project and was completed using a specialised rock saw.

Key features included:

• laying 5000 metres of combined 125mm and 180mm PE Pipe
• need to either butt weld or EF weld all piping
• installing sluice valves, air valves and fire hydrants along the new pipeline
• installing some areas of new pipeline beside the existing AC watermain.