News and announcements

The latest news on Te Kaha, Canterbury's Multi-Use Arena.

Monday 20 March: New drone images

Last week, project management company RCP captured some great drone images of progress taking place on Te Kaha.

In this footage, you can see the ground improvement rigs nearing completion in the north-east corner of the site, and the substructure and perimeter of the 30,000-seat covered arena really starting to emerge.

Monday 20 March: Latest site image

Above is a photo that was taken of the Te Kaha site from BESIX Watpac's offices this morning. You can see vertical reinforcing steel for the ground floor concrete columns of the western and southern stands, and the poured concrete of the substructure (foundations and underground supports) now extending across the southern and western stands. 

An all-weather surface of AP65 and AP40 gravel has been added to high-traffic areas. This will minimise mud over the winter months and manage any dust during drier periods.

The large 300-tonne capacity crawler crane in the middle of the shot takes care of all the heavy lifting. It is currently helping install the reinforcing, and will also be used to lift the concrete formwork and structural steel later in the project.

You can find a new library of previous site progress images(external link) below. 

Tuesday 14 March: Latest site image

This photo was taken of the Te Kaha site from BESIX Watpac's offices on Monday 13 March 2023.

Progress on the western and southern stands' steel framework of the substructure (foundations and underground supports) continues to progress well, and the work from the major concrete pours now extending northwards along the land that will hold the western stand, and along the southern stand (Tuam St end).

The large 300-tonne capacity crawler crane has also moved north to help install the reinforcing on this area of the western stand. Later in the project, this crane will be used to lift the concrete formwork and structural steel.

You can find a new library of previous site progress images(external link) below. 

Tuesday 7 March: Latest site image

This photo was taken of the Te Kaha site from BESIX Watpac's offices on Monday 6 March 2023.

Progress on the western and southern stands' steel framework of the substructure (foundations and underground supports) continues to progress well, and the work from the major concrete pours now extends northwards along the land that will hold the western stand.

The large 300-tonne capacity crawler crane has also moved north to help install the reinforcing on this area of the western stand. Later in the project, this crane will be used to lift the concrete formwork and structural steel.

You can find a new library of previous site progress images(external link) below. 

Wednesday 22 February: Major concrete pours off to a smooth start

Seven major concrete pours have been successfully completed on-site over the past three weeks, as the substructure and foundations work gets underway on Te Kaha’s western and southern stands.

The largest of these pours was around 1000 cubic metres (approximately 160 truck-loads) and the smallest was about 300 cubic metres.

The aim is to complete two pours every week over the next month (weather permitting), with this stage of construction expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

Ground improvement works are ahead of schedule and entering their final stages, with the rigs now working on the land that will hold the northern and eastern stands. This work should be completed in the coming weeks.

The BESIX Watpac team continues to work on the detailed design and this will be largely completed during Quarter 2. Shop drawings have begun for structural steel, and the fabrication and testing of the buckling-restrained braces (more information on these below) is underway.

Friday 17 February: Investing in local businesses

The Te Kaha multi-use arena project has supported the upgrade of facilities at Christchurch's Holmes Solutions so that the engineering firm can test the huge buckling-restrained braces (BRBs) required for the arena’s structure.

A BRB is a structural brace designed to allow a building to withstand the forces and loadings caused by earthquakes.

Before the Te Kaha project upgraded Holmes’ BRB testing rig, there was only one facility in the world that could test BRBs to the length and high capacity that’s required for this project.

Te Kaha Project Delivery Chief Executive David Kennedy says chipping in to upgrade Holmes Solutions' facilities has both environmental and commercial benefits.

“These upgrades mean we can reduce our carbon footprint by not shipping BRBs to Taiwan for testing, significantly shortening these specific timeframes by testing the BRBs locally, and it will leave a legacy in Christchurch long after the Te Kaha project is finished,” Mr Kennedy says.

“Ours is the most comprehensive, project-specific testing programme ever conducted worldwide, and to be able to test longer BRBs at a higher capacity right here in Christchurch is a win-win result for everyone.”

Before and after the BRB testing rig upgrade