A saving of approximately $120,000 on the Queenstown central business district ringmain upgrade has enabled the work to be extended.

"It was originally our intention to upgrade Earl Street but it was omitted from this schedule of works on the basis that we thought the cost would be prohibitive at this stage," project manager Imtech engineer Lane Vermaas said.

Ferguson Construction was able to complete the upgrade within the budget ($450,133) and with a saving due to the fact that soil conditions and a stable lake level along Marine Parade had not impinged on contingency funds. Intensive site supervision and engineering input from Imtech had also enabled the difficult contract to be carried out without encountering any major difficulties.

"The result being that we were then able to take a proposal to the Tender Board to channel the saving into the Earl Street upgrade ($114,840), work that would have needed to be funded in the near future anyway," Mr Vermaas said.

The additional work was now underway with a completion date for the entire project expected to be in the next three weeks.

"It's a very good result, we now have a new, sealed ringmain in the CBD, which will prove invaluable for future development capacity and should we face high lake levels again in the future, it will assist in mitigating flood problems," Mr Vermaas said.

ENDS

For further information please contact Lane Vermaas 03 442 2626.

By: Kiri