Projects

Sediment Disposal Area – Genesis Energy Ltd

Dredging of the Rotoaira Canal and deposition of the resulting silt is an on-going issue for Genesis Energy’s Tongariro Power Scheme.

Cheal has assisted Genesis Energy in this area for over 15 years through survey monitoring of sediment levels in the canal as well as the provision of engineering services. With the previous sediment disposal area at capacity, a new location within the Rotoaira Forest was selected by Genesis for use with the next three dredging cycles (approximately 300,000m3). However, prior to the first dredging (100,000m3), the site required preparatory works including construction of a 3m high bund along the lower portion of the site as well as drainage works—consisting of an open channel and 220mof pipe.

Wastewater Treatment Plant

Taupo District Council engaged Cheal to design a new laboratory on the southern end of their existing waste water treatment plant control room. The Council’s brief was to design the building in such a way as to maintain natural light into what were to become internal rooms with no exterior walls.

To achieve this Cheal designed a lean-to structure with a full length elevated skylight to allow light into the internal rooms via existing hi-light windows on the wall between the new and the old structures. Cheal Engineers were responsible for all Architectural, Civil and Structural design and project management including:

• Earthworks and concrete crib wall
• Additional elevated car parking bay
• Stormwater, sewer and water reticulation
• Geotechnical assessment
• Building wind and earthquake analysis
• Architectural and structural specification
• Lighting design
• Fit-out of the laboratory

Cheal Surveyors were tasked with the initial survey to accurately establish existing services below the proposed building foundations (of which there were many).

Civil Design – Guardian Healthcare

This project comprised the extension of an existing residential care facility into an adjacent paddock. The site had several challenges to overcome during the construction stages including design variations throughout the project.

Cheal Engineers were responsible for civil design of the site including:

• Earthworks and timber retaining walls
• Access road (including temporary access road requiring opening permit)
• Car parks
• Stormwater, sewer and water reticulation
• Geotechnical assessment

Cheal Surveyors were tasked with undertaking the initial survey of the site as well as setting out of the design and providing as-builts as required.

Stafford Rise Residential Development

Cheal has recently completed the final stage of the Stafford Rise subdivision at the top end of Basley Road in Rotorua. The final stage in this development has created a further 12 residential sized parcels and is the only subdivision of this size to be undertaken in Rotorua since 2008.

The development makes good use of its prominent site at the head of a spur by providing good rural and lake view shafts for 80% of the new lots. A minimal amount of new roading in conjunction with retaining walls facilitates good elevation and maximises building areas.

Rainwater discharge from the subdivision required careful and thorough planning and calculations to determine the best possible outcome for the site. To reduce the impact of stormwater on the receiving environment each new lot has a 7m deep, lined soakhole with an overflow to the public stormwater reticulation in times of extreme weather.

Cheal’s input has been multifaceted. While Cheal Planners obtained Resource Consents, our Engineers designed infrastructure and services and administered contracts to see the design through to completion. Cheal Surveyors facilitated planning and design processes with the provision of data and lodgement of Land Transfer surveys to finalise the legal definition of the subdivision.

Stafford Rise Subdivision, Rotorua

Cheal coordinated various sub-consultants including urban designers, lawyers, civil works contractors and valuers. Cheal has provided comprehensive services to enable our client to achieve its development objectives.

The client proceeded to auction in order to sell the sections and all were sold at a single auction, a sign that there is a positive outlook in the economy.

Hydroponics – Tuaropaki E Trust

The Tuaropaki E Trust has an approximate rural land holding of over 4,000ha. Within this they have several rural and industrial enterprises including geothermal power generation, dairy, sheep and beef farming, hydroponics and a new dairy processing plant.

Cheal has supported the Trust for many years with a range of professional expertise. With the Hydroponics project Cheal provided professional services in extensive earthworks design and management of the site, survey control and set out, stormwater and soil management during construction, resource consents for earthworks, water take and land use. The water take was a constrained issue for the ongoing operation of the plant which was recently strengthened with the design and construction of a 50,000m³ reservoir for irrigation storage.

Tuaropaki Trust leads the way in diversified industries on its land and is an excellent example of what can be accomplished with available resources and a powerful vision. Cheal is proud to be associated with the Trust and will continue to assist them with future ventures.

Civil

Urban Subdivision/Soil Erosion – Vaucluse

Vaucluse was designed and built by Cheal for Carrus Corporation in 1999. The client’s goal was to deliver 100 sections to the market within one year, on time and on budget.

A layout was soon completed that connected with five (5) existing roads and required the whole 10ha site to be completely re-contoured.

Cheal designed the earthworks to minimize the amount of exposed material at any one time and to ensure controlled catchment discharges away from the existing homes.

Straw mulch was used extensively as an innovative tool to manage erosion. This attracted region wide acclaim at the time and is now routinely used for any major earthworks.

Another important aspect of this development was the requirement to complete a catchment wide stormwater analysis and design a comprehensive stormwater detention system to retain flows through the existing residential properties and discharge to the Waikato River.

Cheal completed all planning, engineering and surveying elements of the project to help achieve the client’s goal.

Geotechnical

Geotechnical Investigations – Holdens Bay, Rotorua

Cheal was engaged by a private developer to investigate the geotechnical constraints of their land holding in Holdens Bay, Rotorua.

The subject parcel was located such that significant geotechnical constraints were envisaged for its potential use of intensive residential development. It was sited on land that sat approximately 2m above Lake Rotorua’s high operating level, on a historically swampy flood delta, with open water courses running through it. Recent developments and older housing were present on land surrounding the site.

The preliminary investigation entailed a series of deep Cone Penetrometer Test (CPT’s), with stand pipes installed such that it would be possible to monitor changes to groundwater levels over time. Select shallow hand investigations were also undertaken to gain information about the immediate soil profile.

Under analysis, the soils proved to be susceptible to both lateral and vertical displacement during relevant seismic events. Assessed against the most recent national guidelines, these soils demonstrated settlement values that exceeded threshold values. A range of concept design options was presented to the developer for consideration, for site drainage, civil infrastructure design and specific house foundations.

Structural

Structural Steel Design

Cheal was commissioned by Euroscaffold Ltd to undertake Structural Design for a soffit formwork support scaffold structure. The scaffold was to support the construction of the Turbine and Generator building of the Nga Awa Purua Geothermal Power Station near Taupo.

Cheal provided professional advice, checked compliance of the installation against NZ standards and issued producer statements prior to use.

Based on the Layher modular scaffolding system, the structures were 14m high, sitting on a basement slab located 6m below ground level. In addition to the soffit support were external cantilever working platforms and two internal full scaffold access structures.

The scaffolding was designed to carry the dead weight of all materials – concrete, formwork, reinforcement, self-weight and impact loads from pouring concrete. The total load to be supported was approximately 750 tonnes of wet concrete. To cater for the high and real forces it was important to realise the best performance from the scaffolding structures, something that depended on being able to maintain members in a vertical and straight form at all times.

Boundaries

The NZ CycleTrail – Ruapehu District Council

The ‘Mountain to the Sea’ Cycleway, or Ruapehu to Whanganui Nga Tuhono Trail, is part of a New Zealand government co-funded initiative to build and operate a network of ‘Great Rides’ cycle routes through the country.

Cheal was engaged by the Ruapehu District Council to survey part of the cycleway alignment running through Fishers Track (an old unformed “paper” road, to the west of National Park).

The section of track is very remote and steep and the centre line survey of the road alignment needed to show the formed alignment of the road relative to property boundaries. Cheal Surveyors were able to accurately survey the track and at the same time provide the Council officer on-site with a live, digital representation of its position with respect to the legal property boundaries. This allowed for different alignment options to be considered immediately and provided the Council officer with a better “feel” for the land to assist with site decisions. It also meant that fewer site visits were required, saving both time and money.

Hydrographics

Lakeshore Erosion Protection Monitoring Surveys

Cheal has been engaged by Taupo District Council, Mighty River Power and Waikato Regional Council since 2004, to monitor the movement of sediment at various beach locations on the shores of Lake Taupo. The survey data collected is part of an ongoing monitoring program to assist the management of lake shore erosion.

The monitoring involves the annual re-survey of beach profiles at the same locations as established at the commencement of the program in 2004. The data is captured using kinematic GPS techniques. Where the profiles extend beyond the shoreline the data is captured using hydrographic equipment. Cheal own a Ohmex Sonamite hydrographic system that when coupled with the GPS equipment allows real time capture of data in x,y,z format. Profile drawings of the data are prepared and attached to a comprehensive survey report for each locality. Also included within each report is a photo record history. Photos are recorded annually from same locations at each site.

The capture and accurate recording of data compiled to a comprehensive high quality report by our Survey Team allows for our client to make accurate decisions on the future management of lake shore erosion within the Lake Taupo catchment.

Construction Setout

Downer NZ Ltd : NIMT Bridges

Cheal was engaged by Downer Construction in February 2015 to provide precision engineering set out and engineering consultation for the rebuild and strengthening of seven railway bridges on the North Island Main Trunk line, north of Taumarunui.

With expert knowledge in construction set out, Cheal Surveyors managed every aspect of the civil and structural set out work, including accurately and precisely monitoring the movement of the rail track and bridges for the duration of the project. Cheal Engineers also carried out geotechnical investigations and design for crane pads required on some of the sites.

Survey monitoring on bridge BR203, north of Taumarunui

Strict health and safety compliance is required when working within a live rail corridor and Cheal’s experience and workplace health and safety system fitted well with the need to liaise and work closely with the Rail Protection Officers on each site. Daily communications and advance notices were needed when programming in field work, detailed site inductions and emergency plans were all part and parcel of this type of work environment.

Working together with Downer Engineers, Project Managers and Construction Foreman, Cheal was able to provide quality and timely survey and engineering support, with a quality assurance system that has guaranteed our client a high level of accuracy and efficiency in an ever evolving design.

Councils

Urban Design – Taupo District Council

This project was three years in the making with the client, Taupo District Council. A major land acquisition was undertaken by Council to obtain land to facilitate a State Highway 1 bypass around Taupo.

The balance land left over from the bypass parcel was re-zoned as Unserviced Residential and is now referred to as the East Urban Lands (EUL).

The EUL site has many redeeming features: aspect to sun and views, gullies for use of stormwater management and open space, and proximity to town. As a signatory member of the Urban Design Protocol, Taupo District Council has set out to develop the subject site through a master plan approach based upon sustainable design principles. A primary aim of this project is to set a higher standard of residential development within the District.

A joint venture between Cheal and Common Ground Studio in Auckland led to the development of the EUL Master Plan and approval of Resource Consent. The Consent allows for a mixed use development of up to 2,200 residential units and 18,500m2 of commercial gross floor area.

The completed built form will include at source storm water filtration systems and a road reserve layout, including wide shared paths which aim to minimise vehicular use and promote alternative forms of transport. Extensive planting and open space allocation will give rise to a high amenity environment for residents.

All project management, planning and engineering aspects related to EUL was carried out by Cheal. This included extensive stakeholder consultation with parties such as the New Zealand Transport Agency, Landcare, Environment Waikato, and the Department of Conservation.

Subdivisions

Residential Subdivision

Cheal Planners are experts in the subdivision of residential properties. The subdivision of an existing residential property requires a resource consent application in every case.

These Consent Applications require a scheme plan showing the location of the current and future buildings and current and future services including access. Cheal Planners in conjunction with Cheal Surveyors regularly lodge these applications and work with other professionals such as architects to ensure the needs of the client are met in every case.

All projects require an understanding of the client’s timeframes and clear communication. Costs associated with these projects include the initial subdivision application, survey work, management of contractors for services and an assessment of Council’s development contributions. Cheal Planners are experienced in all of these matters and are able to provide timely advice and service on all components of such a project.

Rural

Bel Group Dairy Farms

Cheal has recently been engaged to provide planning advice and related services to Bel Group Dairy Farms based in the Hawke’s Bay.

BEL Group currently milks 8,626 cows across 8 dairy farms totalling 2,439ha with a further 960ha of dairy support land. Cheal has already assisted the company in its latest water permit replacement process, the establishment of further dairy units and the rationalisation of existing water rights.

Reliable and dependable planning advice is critical to the operation, and whether it’s a quick phone call to confirm a basic regulatory requirement, the preparation of a resource consent application or the review of a Plan Change to identify implications on the farming operation, Cheal is proud to be associated with what is a dynamic and progressive dairy farming business.

Our role with Bel Group represents a growing demand for expert advice and services within the environmental sector of the Dairying industry, and Cheal’s environmental services are well geared to meet the demands of farms of all scales. We understand the value of trusting and dependable relationships with our clients and aim to provide this type of service to our rural clients.

Karapiro Dam : Draft Tube Scan

Sections of badly corroded steel inside the draft tube immediately below the Turbine Runner need replacing. It is critically important the surface of the repair is reinstated to its original design contour. Before the repair our client Allied Industrial Engineering, required an as-built model of the surface for their team to design the replacement steel plates.

Cheals 3D Scanning team scanned the surface of the tube with our Trimble TX5 Laser scanner. The scan was completed within the hour. The scan data was processed to an .IGS surface for our client to import to their Solidworks CAD software. In addition to the surface file we provided a comprehensive quality report and a grey-scale scanner image file.

The grey-scale images captured with the scanner clearly show any critical contractor’s markings and existing joins in the steel work. We met all expectations for our client including delivery timeframe and required accuracies of +/- 1.5mm for the finished model.

In working around ‘hot works’ contractors in a confined space it is an added advantage that our team is competent in Confined Space Entry & Gas Testing (ASNZ17599, 18426, 25510) and Working at Heights (ASNZ 17600).

Turbine Runner Hub : High Definition Scan

Cheal’s client Trustpower Limited is to make modifications to the internal cavity of a turbine runner hub. Accurate manual measurements of the hub are difficult and prone to error because of the complex shape.

Cheal’s 3D Scanning team offered to scan the hub with an Artec Eva scanner. The handheld scanner achieves accuracies within the 0.1 to 0.2mm range. The hub unit housed at Mace Engineering, Christchurch, was scanned within the day. Following processing of the data both .STL and .ISG files were delivered to the client within the week following the survey. The files enable the client to directly import the data to their Solidworks modelling software for further analysis.

Scanning with the Artec Eva Scanner enables our scanning team to accurately and cost effectively survey the object. We were able to deliver a useable file format to our client in a short timeframe. The scanning delivers a ‘what you see is what you get’ file to the client without the possibility of measurement errors or uncertainties experienced with traditional manual measurements.