Dramatic night lift of barge and machinery in Kopeopeo Canal Remediation Project

The dramatic night lifting of a barge, excavator and other machinery over Keepa Rd Bridge in Whakat?ne marked the smooth transition into the final section of the Kopeopeo Canal Remediation Project.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council, with co-funding from the Ministry for the Environment, is working with the community to clean up dioxin-contaminated sediment in the Kopeopeo Canal.

The canal was contaminated between the 1950s and late 1980s as a result of stormwater discharges from a former sawmill, which treated timber using Pentachlorophenol (PCP).

The Kopeopeo Canal Remediation Project is removing sediment from the canal using a barge-mounted cutter-suction dredge.

The project is being undertaken in a staged approach to remove, safely store and treat up to 40,000m3 of sediment.

Sediment is transferred along a pipeline to geotubes inside containment sites.

As the barge moves along the canal it needs to be lifted over bridges and pipelines, and this night lift was the sixth and final of the lifts along the project length.

In a statement, deputy project manager Ken Tarboton said that the process went smoothly and according to plan.

“All of the other lifts have been in daylight hours, but this was at night because the contractor wanted to minimise any potential traffic-related effects,” Tarboton said.

“There was a lot of planning and preparation to ensure the safety of all the workers on site and to make sure that there were contingencies and back-up plans in place.

_{Source: nzherald.co.nz}