Christchurch woman named Canterbury Westland’s best excavator operator

06 Oct 2024

Christchurch local Georgia Lyford has been crowned the queen of Canterbury Westland digger operators after winning the region’s annual excavator operator competition at the Road Metals Quarry in Rolleston on Saturday.

Lyford was the sole female among a field of 26 operators at this year’s Civil Contractors New Zealand CablePrice Canterbury Westland Regional Excavator Operator Competition and her win earned her a swag of prizes and a spot in the national finals in Feilding.

“I won it for the girls,” she said.

“This was my third time at the competition and I didn’t do so well last year so I really wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”

This year’s competition included a range of eye-catching challenges to wow spectators and test operators’ precision, from slam dunking a basketball using an excavator’s bucket to deftly pouring a cup of tea using a special attachment on the end of their excavators’ arms.

It also included more conventional tests of skill, such as truck loading and traversing obstacles, as well as theory-based challenges requiring operators to demonstrate health and safety knowledge and awareness of underground services and on-site hazards.

Lyford, who works as a drainage operator for Schick Civil Construction’s Christchurch branch, said the ‘log walk’ challenge was one of the most difficult, requiring her to climb her excavator onto two logs and complete a 360-degree spin without touching the ground.

“That was the one I’ll need to improve on the most at the nationals … I’m only 23 so it will be cool to go to the finals in Feilding and prove to all the other young girls considering a career in civil construction that we can do it too.”

The Canterbury Westland competition also included a separate ‘novice’ category for first time regional excavator operator competition competitors with less than five years’ experience in the industry. That category was won by Mike Alley from Road Metals, after a calm and composed performance throughout the day.

Competition organiser James Flower said this year’s entrants hailed from all corners of Canterbury, including Kaikoura, Timaru, and even the West Coast.

“The weather was perfect, and the enthusiastic support from friends, family, and the public contributed to a lively atmosphere throughout the day.

“One of the standout challenges was the ‘egg and spoon’ event, where competitors had to delicately pick up an egg from a sandpile with a spoon attached to their excavator and place it into a small cup. There were certainly some moments that left the audience in stitches, as a few competitors ended up with their eggs scrambled.”

Flower said there was a shortage of excavator operators nationally and the competition aimed to both celebrate existing operators and inspire other people to consider joining the civil construction industry.

The sponsors for this year’s CCNZ CablePrice Canterbury Westland Regional Excavator Operator Competition were CablePrice, Attach2 Equipment, Connexis, Firstgas, Hirepool, Humes, Road Metals, CVT, RB Cartage and Youngman Richardson & Co.

The winners of the 11 regional excavator operator competitions across New Zealand qualify for the national finals, which will be held in Feilding in March 2025, during the Central Districts Field Days.