Fulton Hogan has been awarded the Central Otago highway maintenance contract by the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Fulton Hogan has formed a partnership with professional engineering services provider Opus Consultants, Whitestone Contracting Ltd and Base Contracting Ltd, who will collectively deliver the $65 million, seven-year contract covering 537km of highway.
The network covers challenging strategic state highway routes connecting the West Coast from Haast Pass on SH6 down through Queenstown to Kingston in the south, the main link to Central Otago from Canterbury on SH8 from the Lindis Pass, and eastwards connecting Coastal Otago from Raes Junction, and also on SH 85 from Kyeburn near Ranfurly.
The four parties will begin work on 1 October as the Aspiring Highways team, which Fulton Hogan regional manager Paul Bisset says is excited by the collaborative opportunities presented by the new model. “This continues Fulton Hogan’s strong connection with the local community and helps us maintain our current presence in the region,” Bisset says.
The assignment is a new Network Outcome Contract (NOC), part of a nationwide change in the procurement and execution of State Highway maintenance under a highly collaborative environment, and offers the possibility of a two-year extension based on performance.
The contract is designed to deliver greater efficiencies in terms of operation and costs, says the Transport Agency’s Southern business unit manager Ian Duncan.
“Network Outcomes Contracts are a new way of doing business. In the past, there have been several contracts delivering maintenance work on the network.
“With one contract for maintaining highways in the Queenstown-Lakes and Central Otago districts, the Transport Agency is expecting savings across the board.”
Fulton Hogan currently has around 230 staff based in Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Alexandra and has spent the last five years maintaining the roads in the region under a traditional maintenance contract, ensuring it has a good working knowledge of both the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts.
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