Downer has won a new multi-million dollar Dunedin City Council road maintenance contract, which also marks a significant shift in the way the work will be reported and assessed.
Three contracts previously covered the work covered by the new contract, which starts on 1 July, and has a value of $45 million for the three-year period.
Formerly Fulton Hogan was holding the urban and rural road network contracts, and Downer was holding the signs and markings contract.
The new contract awarded to Downer also includes maintenance of all hard surfacing in the city’s parks and recreation areas (previously part of parks contracts).
The Dunedin City Council (DCC) has one of the largest city areas in New Zealand, with about 1000km of sealed roads and 700km of unsealed or graveled roads.
The new contract is for maintaining both the urban and rural road network for the entire DCC area, it has been structured to support a range of local subcontractors and Downer, will be working in partnership with SouthRoads.
DCC General Manager Infrastructure and Networks Ruth Stokes says over the following year, a range of improvements will be rolled out.
“This means residents will be able to go online and see what planned work there is and whereabouts, and also view real-time reports of the work as it is being carried out,” says Stokes.
The new contract is for a three-year term, followed by two separate one year right of renewals at the discretion of the DCC.
From July 1, Downer will carry out from 1 July includes the resealing of roads and footpaths, shape correction work, curb and channel replacement, cleaning mud tanks, fixing potholes, grading gravel roads, street cleaning, spraying roadside vegetation and maintaining road signs.
Downer will also have the job of responding – at any time of the day or night – when weather such as ice and snow pose problems for the city’s roading network.
As well as details of the work becoming publicly available, new contract management processes have also been put in place.
