201410 – Maria & Sandhu – Auckland Electrification Project Construction Practices and Challenges

HILOR commenced construction works on the Auckland Electrification Project (AEP) in early 2010, and completed works in September 2014.

There have been many challenges during the course of the project, across many different disciplines. From the general logistics of such a large project spread over a wide area, the technical challenges faced in constructed the foundations and overhead line equipment, the health and safety considerations of working in the operating rail environment, and the interfaces with many other parties carrying out other works in the rail corridor.

In addition to the above challenges, it has been a very demanding project in terms of the time commitments required from the project personnel – working long hours, night shifts, many block of line weekends, and most public holiday periods – including the intensive Christmas Block of Line period.

It is a huge testament to the team that we have overcome all the challenges to deliver a world-class infrastructure asset, while maintaining an excellent safety record, and meeting all stakeholder programme milestones.