According to Watercare, Warkworth is expected to grow significantly in population, with up to 20,000 people migrating to the area over the next few decades.
The utility is undertaking a number of significant wastewater infrastructure projects to accommodate this anticipated growth, one of which is the Warkworth to Snells transfer pipeline.
Watercare is tunnelling more than 5 km of new pipeline from Lucy Moore Memorial Park to the new wastewater treatment plant in Snells Beach.
Tunnelling will be carried out deep underground by direct pipe tunnelling — a method that was successfully deployed on the Snells-Algies wastewater outfall.
The Snells-Algies wastewater pipe and outfall was constructed back in 2020 as the first phase of a three-stage scheme to supply the Warkworth and Mahurangi East communities north of Auckland.
Micro-tunnelling expert McConnell Dowell was awarded the design and construct contact by Watercare in March 2019.
The project set a new world record for the longest direct pipe drive by a micro-tunnel boring machine (MTBM), reaching 2021 m – a whole 92 m further than the previous record set by McConnell Dowell in 2018.
The Warkworth to Snells pipeline will be delivered in conjunction with the Lucy Moore Memorial Park wastewater pump station and the Snells Beach wastewater treatment plant.
The Warkworth wastewater scheme is expected to be completed in 2024.
For more information visit the Watercare website.