Tonkin & Taylor, along with Solid Energy New Zealand, were the prestigious winners of the 2007 Arthur Mead Environmental Award for the Mangakotukutuku Stream (M Stream) Diversion Project.
 |
Pictured:
The award winning Mangakotukutuku Stream project.
|
|
The award was presented at a special Awards Ceremony held in Auckland on Wednesday evening, 18 July.
The key objective of the Award is to encourage, recognise and publicise significant contributions to the preservation, conservation and improvement of the environment.
The M Stream diversion, located in the Rotowaro coalfield area, 10 km west of Huntly in the Waikato region, was required by Solid Energy in order to develop the Awaroa 4 opencast coal mine. The 1.34 km long diversion was developed as an ecological corridor to provide a net environmental gain to the stream system.
Dr Tim Fisher, Senior Engineer at Tonkin & Taylor, submitted and accepted the award on behalf of T&T and Solid Energy at the Awards Ceremony. “The transformation of a degraded stream to an ecological corridor is an excellent example of how a company, a consultant and the wider community have been able to work together successfully to come up with a net environmental gain and sustainable solution for the longer term benefits of all”, he said.
T&T’s expertise in eco-hydraulics and geotechnical engineering was combined with Solid Energy’s on-site experience, with consideration for local conditions and the environment, to deliver a state-of-the-art environmental design for an enhanced in-steam habitat.
Mr Peter Millar, T&T’s Managing Director, commented that the challenge was to arrive at a solution that not only met the client’s requirements but was also delivered on time with minimal disruption to mining activities and without any adverse effects to the surrounding environment.
“A vital aspect of the project was the fostering of strong working relationships with key stakeholders including the community, iwi and Environment Waikato”, said Mr Millar. |
