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Sewer installation a thumping-great project

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PUBLISHED: 30 JAN 2025
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Installation of a new sewer line by NPDC is underway in the New Plymouth suburb of Frankleigh Park, starting with massive piles being thudded into place in Sutherland Park.

The 1.1km-long pipeline will connect houses in the new Patterson Road development, off Frankley Road, to the city’s sewerage network.

NPDC Infrastructure Project Manager Steve Chamberlain says the pipeline requires large piles to support it because the soil at the park is very soft.

“We’ve got a pile-driver and an auger, which drills holes for the piles, working away. It looks pretty impressive, especially when the pile-driver is thumping the piles into place, and we get people stopping to watch them at work.”

The pipeline is scheduled to be finished by September, weather permitting.

NPDC will also be building a drinking water connection to the Patterson Road area from Shelter Grove, with that project starting in about a month.

A benefit to the wider community is that the sewage pipe will provide a route for a new shared pathway.

“It’s how all of our inland walkways, like Te Henui and Huatoki, have been created: a sewer main goes down and above it is a pathway for leisure and community connection,” says Steve.

“This one will be finished off with gravel and it’ll be a great facility people in the Hurdon, Frankleigh Park and Ferndale suburbs.”

 

Fast facts

  • NPDC collects and treats sewage from the urban areas of New Plymouth, Bell Block, Waitara, Inglewood and Ōākura and returns clean water to the environment.
  • Each year, NPDC treats about eight million cubic metres of wastewater at the New Plymouth Wastewater Treatment Plant – the equivalent of four billion 2L milk bottles.
  • NPDC looks after 82km of walkways, including the 13.2km Coastal Walkway.

 

Caption: Heavy piles are driven into the ground at Sutherland Park by the pile-driver in the background, for a new sewer line.

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Page last updated: 11:08am Thu 30 January 2025

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