-As published by Dredging Today (Nov 22)

In October 2022, the final concrete hanbar was cast for Opotiki’s new $100million harbour entrance, New Zealand’s Opotiki District Council said.

These hanbars surround and protect the 400m long seawalls being built to provide year-round river access to Ōpōtiki town and wharf.

Hanbars are heavy concrete structures which protect the harbour’s rock core from sea erosion.

Director of Eastern Bay Concrete, Shane Clark, said that the first hanbar was cast back in October 2020 and around 12,000 hanbars had been cast with his company’s concrete since then.

He said that the last couple of years have been very busy for his company and team as they scaled up to deliver concrete to HEB Construction [Lead contractor on the Ōpōtiki harbour design and build] for the seawalls.

“At our peak, we were supplying 90m3 (about 20 truck-loads) of specialty concrete to HEB Construction each day to be formed into these large hanbars,” said Clark.

“We met the strictest quality standards for our product because the hanbars are designed to stand the test of time in a complex marine environment. HEB set very high standards for quality and volume of product and we were able to meet those demands.”

Mr Clark also emphasised the importance of local businesses doing as much of the work as possible on large-scale infrastructure projects due to maximise long-term benefits for the local community.

This local workforce focus was built into the contacts from the very start of the Ōpōtiki Harbour project and continues through all stages.

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