Expenditure for work on the Southern Pipeline's Maleme to Memorial contract to June 30 this year is $8.954 million and the forecast final cost is currently well within the $13.1 million budget and $2 million contingency allowance.

The Tauranga City Council's projects and monitoring committee has heard updates on the contract that was let in September 2010 with the completion for December 2011.

Works at Memorial Park on the Southern Pipeline.

Installation works in Memorial Park are expected to be completed in September.

This Memorial Park section suffered a three month delay when the February Christchurch earthquake shut the New Zealand factory manufacturing the pipe.

The manufacturer found new premises and recommenced production with deliveries arriving in May.

About three quarters of the pressure pipe is laid.

Of a total tendered length of 3940m – 2673m is being laid from the Maleme Street Pump

Station, up Oropi Road hill, along Fraser Street to Baycroft Avenue and from outside the

cemetery on 18th Avenue across Fraser Street and down to the Fraser Cove traffic signals.

Depth of installation has been typically 2-4.5m. Two sections have been directionally drilled; Oropi Road hill was drilled in three shots for a total of 690m, in places this section would have had required trenches more than 5.5m deep. The other section was Merivale between Esk Street and Baycroft Avenue, where a 670m section was drilled as a single shot 15m deep in some places.
The alternative required trenching 5m plus deep, past the shops and running a diversion for southbound traffic around Oxford Street and Hampton Terrace. The pipe string, weighing about 88 tonnes was pulled in during two days.

Most of the gravity pipe is laid with 1579m of a total tendered length of 1750m installed, with 390m from Memorial Park to Twelfth and Thirteenth Avenue was installed by directional drill.