Case study: Sutherlands Road, Halswell – stormwater drain piping

Christchurch City Council are piping a length of an old timber stormwater drain along Sutherlands Road, Halswell, and siphoning under a spring-fed stream. Part of a capital works programme, this will improve the quality of stormwater run-off entering downstream rivers and streams and provide flood storage. (It also has safety advantages over the existing timber-lined drain.)

Onsite on this complex project, which began in September 2024 and is on track to end in June 2025, are Hunter Civil. This locally-based civil construction and project management company combine technical expertise with an innovative mindset to complete significant infrastructure projects across New Zealand. Sutherlands Road Drain Separation experienced team is spearheaded by Patrick Connell (Project Manager), with support from Julian Fairmaid (Operations Manager).

Hunter Civil has worked extensively on similar projects, but the large,1800mm pipe was one of the biggest they’ve dealt with to date.

The testing of the joints on the 300m pipeline, required specialist equipment, a 1800mm pipe test plug, along with service expertise.

BurrowTech had the right solution, hiring the Hunter Civil team the pipe test plug, that allowed them to complete the pipe testing successfully. Hayden Powell from BurrowTech says the 1800mm size is specialised and requires expertise to service it.

The plug allowed Hunter Civil to successfully temporarily block the pipeline for testing – vital for quality assurance sign-off, and guaranteed performance into the future. Julian Fairmaid says the project is progressing well, the joints in the pipes have passed their tests with flying colours and the test plug was “excellent”.