New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards

Navy bulk fuel tunnels named finalist in engineering excellence awards

16 October 2007

The backfilling of the Bulk Fuel Tunnels at the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Devonport base was announced a category finalist in the 2007 New Zealand Engineering Excellence (NZEE) Awards today.

The third New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are the premier awards for New Zealand engineering professionals. The awards are presented in two major areas: Individual Awards, that recognise leadership, entrepreneurship, and our young engineers; and Category Awards, that recognise achievement in the various industry areas, together with a Supreme Award for the best of the Category winners.

Four tunnels were designed to hold enough fuel for the New Zealand naval fleet and dug into the sandstone cliff behind the Devonport Naval Base between 1943 and 1947. Each tunnel was eight metres high and stretched 115 metres back under Calliope Road.

In 1993, archival research into the tunnels discovered the tunnels were not legalised after WWII. Also the original design was not intended for storing diesel and there was a distinct possibility of fuel leakage into the surrounding hillside. Residents on the land above were unhappy to learn of their existence and as the Navy no longer required so much fuel storage capacity, it was decided to backfill them.

GHD Ltd and Nikau Contractors Ltd started the project in September 2004 and completed in May 2005. The end result was the delivery of a project that not only met the needs of the Royal New Zealand Navy but also satisfied the local community and regulatory organisations. Innovative contract documentation, construction methodologies and environmental management processes produced outstanding multi-award winning results for this $2.4m project.

David Elms, Convenor of the Category Awards judging panel said that the calibre of finalist projects highlighted the contribution that professional engineers make to New Zealand on a social, economic and environmental scale.

“These projects made the finalist cut because they each are outstanding examples of engineering innovation”, says Mr Elms. “This year’s finalists impressed the judges by demonstrating how their projects contributed to the national economy and the reputation of New Zealand engineering and impacted on quality of life in their communities”.

Winners of both individual and category awards will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner at TE PAPA, Wellington on Wednesday, 21 November 2007.

The New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are hosted by a consortium of five partners and 10 contributing organisations. The partners are: Centre for Advanced Engineering (CAE); Association of Local Government Engineering New Zealand Incorporated (INGENIUM); Electricity Engineers Association of New Zealand (EEA); Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ); and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Inc (IPENZ).

Media enquiries contact:

Verona-Meiana Putaranui, NZEE Awards Media Co-ordinator

Email: media@ipenz.org.nz

Phone: +64 4 473 2028 or Cell: +64 21 479885