All “Infrastructure” topics

Cardinal, the country’s largest privately-owned third-party logistics (3PL) company, has announced it is developing New Zealand’s first-ever fully automated 3PL warehouse in Drury, near Auckland.

Three major weather events in January and February this year caused large scale flooding which severely damaged North Island road and rail infrastructure, particularly in Hawke’s Bay. This extended issue covers the recent storms and their impacts.

Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread damage and disruption to most parts of New Zealand, resulting in the closure of many of the country’s main highways and significantly impacting the local economy. In the weeks and months that followed, many businesses suffered from delays and supply chain disruptions, with the rebuilding work still underway, even now.

When a national state of emergency was declared on Tuesday 14 February due to Cyclone Gabrielle, more than 30 sections of state highway were completely closed to traffic, impacting a significant proportion of the roading network serving Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Manawatu, the Central Plateau, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay. Several months on, it’s clear just exactly how much Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi) and local councils are facing as they look to restore the damage and upgrade infrastructure.

During January and February, the North Island was subject to three severe weather events (as defined in the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023): Cyclone Hale, from 8 – 12 January, the Auckland Anniversary Day storm from 26 January – 3 February, and Cyclone Gabrielle from 12 – 16 February. All of them affected the railway system, but most of the impact was from Gabrielle.

Kiwirail recently announced that major work will be required to bring the formation of the Auckland Rail Network up to scratch, ready for the workload that the City Rail Link (CRL) will impose on it, and for future growth beyond that. Logistics & Transport NZ caught up with KiwiRail’s Chief Operating Officer Capital Projects David Gordon to talk about the project, known as the Rail Network Rebuild (RNR).

The City Rail Link is now past the halfway mark and has achieved some significant milestones this year. Catch up with Dr Sean Sweeney as he summarises achievements to date, which include completing the final of four tunnel breakthroughs at Te Waihorotiu Station in Auckland.

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James Paul speaks with distinguished professor Paul Spoonley about his views on Kiwis’ daily movements following the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

This article examines implications for the provision of infrastructure arising from the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development.

In December 2019, the draft New Zealand Rail Plan (‘the plan’) was released by the Government. It outlines the Government’s long-term vision and priorities for the future of the national rail network. This vision includes a national rail network that provides modern transit systems in our largest cities, and enables increased volumes of freight to be moved off the roads and onto rail.

Five-hundred new mobile cell towers around rural New Zealand are in the works with the second phase of the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI2) which is now well underway. The five-year programme will increase the country’s mobile land coverage by 25% and is set for completion in 2023. When the build programme is finished, 33,000 more rural Kiwi households and businesses will be able to access mobile services offered by New Zealand’s three mobile network operators – Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees – for the very first time.

The New Zealand infrastructure industry is currently undergoing both policy and structural reforms, and its direction will be governed by a new entity called the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga.