Hurlstone Earthmoving Ltd

The Kai Iwi Tunnel Bypass project is located just west of Wanganui on the Martin-New Plymouth Rail line at the 52km peg. This site is accessed via private property from S.H.3. The contract between Ontrack and Hurlstone Earthmoving had a 22 week completion time-fame and has been completed on time. The project has eliminated the Kai Iwi Tunnel and opens the way for trains in and out of Taranaki to carry the larger 2.9m Hi-Cube containers.

The rail deviation has completely by-passed the tunnel and removed a permanent speed restriction that had been in place for the 2.6m containers that used to pass through it. It is considered to be a significant step towards making rail more competitive for the movement of containerized goods in and out of Taranaki.

This contract was managed by Hurlstone’s New Plymouth branch and involved a 45 metre deep cut with a total volume of 455,000cbm of material to be moved. With the recent acquisition of Hayes Earthmoving Services Ltd in November 2007 (a well regarded Wanganui based earthmoving contractor), Hurlstones’ took on a number of staff with extensive specialist experience in railway maintenance and construction works. In particular, company founder John Hayes, whom has over 40 years of expertise in Earthworks involving railway deviations and tunnel day-lighting.

Hurlstone’s mobilized a large number of earthmoving equipment and resources from their fleet to expedite the movement of such a large volume of material. Up to ten articulated dump trucks, two motorscapers, three bulldozers and five excavators were fully employed to bring this contract in on time for our Ontrack. Some of the latest technology was used in the form of a GPS system on the Caterpillar 30 ton hydraulic excavator. The system allowed the operator to view the clients design as the cut was formed ensuring a high degree of accuracy and minimizing the potential for over excavation, as well as significantly speeding up operations.

Aside from the large quantity of earthworks, substantial Civil Works were also co-ordinated and completed - including 3,100m3 of Geogrid reinforced earth embankments, 500m of Subsoil and Buttress drains, 100m of 600-750mm Concrete culvert construction, a 22m long bridge, and soil stabilization around the bridge abutments which included soil nails and shot-creting. As part of an alternative submission, the originally planned Steel Bridge was replaced with Class 1 Pre-Stressed Concrete Double Tee Bridge. This submission was a savings to the contract of approx. $25,000. Extensive erosion control was also required to manage the light weight sands and steep batters that form the Kai Iwi Rail cutting.

With regular contract with the landowners affected by the new alignment, contract staff has been able to optimize the net result for all parties.

Ontrack also employed the services of Hurlstone’s to remove track sets from the existing rail alignment (including the tunnel) and to work alongside their teams of track layers to construct and commission the 1100m of new track. Hurlstones trained sleeper laying operators were used to lay the 1600 concrete sleepers that form the new track.