While Nelsonians slept, amidst the stillness of the night, work at the Saxton Creek Stage 4 project was coming alive.

As darkness hit on 7 and 8 June 2023, we closed Main Road Stoke to install four twin culvert barrels (a whopping 23 tonnes each!).

This was a significant milestone for the project, which aims to improve the stormwater resilience of the Stoke area. When complete the 220m culvert will run under Main Road Stoke, through the industrial area of Kotua Place to Whakatū Drive. It is made up of 129 ‘L’ shaped panels (11 tonnes each) and 68 twin culvert barrels (23 tonnes each).

This work was meticulously planned by the team at Downer and flawlessly executed by a group of specialist contractors from Downer and Lift and Shift. Downer Senior Project Manager, Mike Reilly likened the operation to “Slotting an envelope in a letter box from 100m away”.

Guided by a massive 100-tonne crane, the Downer team skilfully moved one 23-tonne twin culvert barrel at a time, through a narrow “letterbox” between Main Road Stoke and the 33kv power lines above the site.

This was placed on pre-installed Teflon sliders (think of them as sliders that you place heavy furniture on). The Teflon sliders played a critical role, reducing the forces needed to pull each of the twin culvert barrels - from 23 tonnes to just over 3 tonnes.

Once on the Teflon sliders, like a well-orchestrated orchestra, the team leapt into action installing rigging and connecting winches, seamlessly sliding each of the four twin culvert barrels into their designated position.

Photos courtesy of Virginia Woolf Photography @virginiawoolfphotography.