Infrastructure rebuild reaches milestone

The $2 billion rebuild of Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged infrastructure was formalised today, with the signing of an agreement between key partners

Work to repair damaged city infrastructure has been ongoing over past months, with a focus on emergency response and repair work to restore temporary services to homes, make the roads safe and repair critical underground infrastructure.

At the same time, planning for the wider rebuild, which is likely to take more than five years, has also progressed. An Alliance partnership has been put in place to manage the rebuild, between the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), Christchurch City Council, and contractors Fulton Hogan, Fletcher, McConnell Dowell, Downer and City Care. An interim agreement between these agencies was signed on 3 May 2011, and that was formalised today (Thursday 22 September 2011), with the signing of the Alliance Agreement by all partners.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker says today’s signing marks a key milestone in the rebuild.

“We have made good progress over past months on emergency repairs, but there remains a massive task ahead of us. By forming a partnership between the City, Government and key construction contractors we know we will achieve the best outcome for the city.

“Alliance partnerships have been proven to deliver good results on major projects, and we are faced with an unprecedented programme of works in the infrastructure rebuild. Each and every one of us will be affected by the rebuild and our team will ensure residents and other community groups are kept well informed of progress as the infrastructure rebuild rolls out.

“The infrastructure rebuild underpins the recovery of the entire city and it is important that we are all working together to get the best result.”

Council General Manager Capital Programme Kevin Locke says the Alliance management model was chosen because it has been demonstrated this way of working brings innovation and value for money to major projects.

“It is different to a normal client/contractor relationship in that all organisations involved commit to working closely together to achieve the best outcome for the city. Where the model has been used by NZTA elsewhere in New Zealand, it has resulted in opportunities for innovation, reduced start-up times and the completion of projects ahead of schedule,” he says.

All of the contractors involved have been working on the rebuild since 4 September. It is expected that at the peak of construction, the infrastructure rebuild will employ around 2000 people across the city.

“We will also be working closely with CERA and other agencies to align our planning with other earthquake recovery efforts in the city to ensure an effective, timely and coordinated rebuilding and recovery effort for Christchurch,” Mr Locke says.

Background – the Alliance model

Alliances are a form of collaboration between a client, consultant and contractor who mutually agree to undertake the work to target levels of quality, cost and time. Additional rewards/sanctions are put in place should performance exceed/fail to meet the targets. This leads to a high degree of trust between the parties and a focus on performing to the highest expectations

NZTA Alliances formed on large-scale projects to date have all been successful. The most recently completed Alliance, the Manukau Harbour Crossing, was delivered nearly 12 months ahead of schedule and under budget.