Stratford’s second water trunkmain is weeks away from being completed, with the last pieces of infrastructure being fitted throughout September.
A key milestone in the project was successfully completed last week, with the installation of a new pipe bridge across the Pātea River. This involved welding the old bridge to the new one then using rollers to pull the old bridge off the existing supporting structures and replacing it with the new bridge.
Installing the new pipe, which spans approximately 3.5km in total, is a welcome addition to Stratford’s water supply infrastructure.
“Adding a second water main to supply the Stratford township with drinking water is a dream come true,” says Chief Executive Sven Hanne.
Mr Hanne understands the benefit of this new water trunkmain through first hand experiences. “Our team has had to be knee deep in a trench fixing burst water pipes on Christmas Day, while the town is without water, more than once in my time at Council,” he says.
“With a second water trunkmain, we have the resilience to be able to keep water flowing to households if one main breaks. We’ll be able to turn one pipe off with little impact to residents while we work to fix the issue.”
The project has been a long time coming due mainly to lack of funding. However, a grant of $2.4 million from Kānoa Provincial Development Unit has enabled the project to progress earlier than planned and with minimal financial impact on Stratford ratepayers.
“We’re really excited about this project being completed. It will serve our growing community well into the future,” says Mr Hanne.
As part of the project there will be times in the coming month when contractors will need to turn off the town’s water supply to safely complete infrastructure connections. Residents will be told in advance of this work occurring.
The best way to stay up to date with the project is to download the Antenno App for free which Council uses to share important updates directly to residents’ mobile phones, or by keeping an eye on our website stratford.govt.nz
Updates on the project can be viewed on here.
