This large and challenging contract was undertaken by the Hunter Civil/Makeri Construction Joint Venture in mid-2009 to replace the Owenga Wharf on the Chatham Islands. Aspects of this contract were very challenging due to its location. Not least of the challenges were the logistics of supplying the required resources across an 800km sea journey. Additionally the weather and sea conditions required a precise focus on the constructability on a day to day basis.

To complete the project, we needed to drill through very hard "Blue Basalt" rock to set the new piles in place.  This also provided interesting challenges for our team on the ground.

Due to some clever planning and resourcing, excellent work efforts by all those involved and some innovative thinking and construction methodologies, the project was successfully delivered ahead of time and under budget in December 2009.

The completed wharf quality and innovations during construction, along with a strong partnering approach throughout the contract were recognised in August 2010 when it won the New Zealand Contractors’ Federation National Construction Awards for "Category 2, Projects having a value between $500,000 and $5 million".