Waitohi Picton Ferry Precinct Concept Design & Consenting

WSP provided expertise across multiple disciplines towards the Waitohi Picton Ferry Precinct Development, a key infrastructure project driven by the need to accommodate two new large Interislander Ferries.

Client

Port Marlborough New Zealand & KiwiRail

Project Status

Complete: March 2021

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Interisland fleet across Cook Strait is a vital transport link between the North and the South Island. With the movement of over 800,000 people and $14 billion worth of freight improving the resilience of this link is critical to the backbone of New Zealand. KiwiRail has proposed two new purpose-built vessels, as part of an inter-generational investment to service NZ’s growing freight, vehicle and passenger needs well into the 21st century. Terminal upgrades will be required on each side of the Strait, defining what is known as iReX (Interisland Resilient Connection Project).

The Waitohi Picton Ferry Precinct Development has been driven by a need to accommodate these new Interislander Ferries. PMNZ is required to upgrade the port infrastructure before the vessel’s arrival. This infrastructure redevelopment includes new wharves, a new terminal building, linkspans and gangways, railway and vehicle yards and associated infrastructure to support logistics within the port.

CLIENT BRIEF

The scope of work was to develop concept layouts for the precinct, assess the options in order to identify the preferred solution, and then develop the concept design for that solution for the resource consent application process and to support the business case. WSP provided expertise across multiple disciplines, including:

geotechnical engineering and investigations
natural hazard assessment and resilience study
civil structures and foundations (retaining walls, stormwater culverts, and bridges)
marine civil (dredging, scour assessment and protection)
marine structural (seawalls/revetments, wharves, linkspan support piers, berthing and mooring systems, commercial jetties and wavescreen)
civil earthworks and pavements
traffic engineering and geometric design
rail tracks and marshalling yard
rail / road container terminal and RoRo operations
building structural (gangways, ancillary buildings)
water and drainage services
electrical services (supply, transformer substation, distribution, lighting, and communications)
landscaping, sustainability and human factors
constructability, construction methodology, staging and programming, and construction effects for the public consultation
specialist environmental planning services such as transport planning and contaminated land.

WSP provided an experienced engineering team to collaborate with other established project team members including Architects, Planners, Cost Estimators and Project Managers.

PROJECT CHALLENGES

The main challenges were to provide a concept design layout which:

accommodates the new larger vessels with increased passenger, vehicle and rail freight volumes, within their operational objectives (including shorter turn around times), and the site’s physical constraints
provides robust, resilient and quality solutions for the infrastructure, within overall budget constraints
minimises impact on the environment, users of the harbour, local transport network, businesses and residents, and the built environment of the wider area
enables the redevelopment to occur in stages within the operational port so as not to affect existing ferry and port operations, and
maintains business continuity for rail/marine/vehicle and foot passenger movements.

THE SOLUTION

We overcame these challenges through effective interaction with the entire project team, collaborating widely through all stages. By providing an integrated working model, close programme management and design team support to the client’s decision-making processes, we successfully delivered:

an initial concept design options study, assessment, and selection of the preferred option
a port-wide resilience study to focus the design effort appropriate to the level of criticality of the infrastructure
development of the preferred concept design solution
inputs into cost engineering, including value engineering, risk analysis and Safety in Design registers (SiD)
a concept design package for the environmental planning approval process, including design documentation, construction methodology, Principal’s Minimum Requirements, programme, and a 3D model.
assessment of effects across disciplines including contaminated land and traffic to support consent requirements.

OUTCOME/CLIENT BENEFITS

We have assisted in identifying alternatives and developing solutions for consultation and environmental approval. We have also designed, planned and costed to feed into the business case for the wider iReX project.

Our early work on understanding risk profiles, assessing natural hazards and quantifying consequences of various events on critical infrastructure enabled deign parameters to be set for various asset components, while providing a deeper understanding for client investment decisions.

WSP also provided significant benefit by developing the project staging and construction programming to suit the preferred concept design. This ensured that the project staging implications were well understood, costed, and development of the precinct could be integrated within the overall iReX programme.

Waitohi Picton is now well-placed to proceed to the next stages after gaining the required consents, including detailed design, procurement and construction.

Once complete, PMNZ and KiwiRail will have a state of the art, resilient ferry precinct which will accommodate the new large Interisland fleet and will support the growth of both tourism and freight demands within New Zealand.