By rosebell
Acciona has broken ground on New Zealand’s Warkworth–Te Hana road project, marking the start of construction on a major transport link between Auckland and Northland.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and marks the transition from the planning phase to project delivery.
The Warkworth–Te Hana project is being delivered through Northway, a public-private partnership between Acciona and Aberdeen Investments, on behalf of the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi. It is described as New Zealand’s largest public-private partnership.
Acciona is responsible for the project’s design, construction, operation and maintenance. The works include 26km of dual carriageway, twin-bore tunnels more than 1km long through the Dome Valley, 15 bridges and more than 10 million m³ of earthworks.
The project has an estimated total cost of approximately NZ$3.6bn (€1.9bn) over its 32-year construction and operating period. This includes a nominal design-and-construction cost of around NZ$3bn (€1.5bn).
The new highway forms a key part of the Northland Corridor Programme, a strategic transport corridor spanning nearly 100km. The programme aims to improve connectivity and support transport links across the northern part of New Zealand.
