11 Jul 2023
At its biennial conference, on 22 June 2023, the Structural Engineering Society New Zealand (SESOC) presented six awards in recognition of outstanding achievement in the advancement of structural engineering design and construction.
At the 2023 Structural Engineering Excellence Awards function, SESOC President Nicholas Brooke said that the broad range and high quality of entries to this year’s awards gave the judges a challenging task, but demonstrated that New Zealand structural engineers continue to strive for, and achieve, excellence for their clients and for society.
Beca were named winners of the Infrastructure Award for the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway Project Bridges. The award is given in recognition of an infrastructure project of outstanding achievement in the advancement of structural engineering design and construction.
The project is a 13km section of the new Kāpiti Expressway between Peka Peka and Ōtaki that incorporates seven precast concrete beam road bridges, two steel beam road bridges, two concrete underpasses, five concrete pedestrian bridges and several large culverts.
As Urban Designers and Landscape Architects for the project, Studio Pacific’s role included co-design of the bridges, as well as extensive consultation, detailed planting schemes and site observation for over 750,000 native plants, development of wetlands and enhancement of ecologically significant areas, integration of artworks and design work for the impressive gateway sculptures either side of Ōtaki.
Local artist and graphic designer, Piri-Hira Tukapua, led the design of the artwork that can been seen on the bridges that cross the expressway. The patterns were developed through consultation with local iwi and community groups to provide cultural narratives.
Congratulations to Beca, Waka Kotahi, and the wider project team. We are extremely proud to have worked with an outstanding project team to deliver this award-winning ‘Green Corridor’ that makes journeys in and out of the capital easier, safer, and more reliable.
Learn more about the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway.
Jamil Khan (Beca Technical Director – Structural Engineering) receives the Infrastructure Award at the 2023 Structural Engineering Excellence Awards for Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway Project Bridges.