Outstanding Canterbury Westland civil construction projects and high achievers were recognised at the 2024 Civil Contractors New Zealand Canterbury Westland Hynds and Liebherr Contractor of the Year Awards, held at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
CCNZ Canterbury Westland Chair Harley Haywood said the sold-out event on 8 November was a golden opportunity for the 420-strong crowd to down tools and celebrate the year’s successes.
“The evening was about us celebrating as an industry and as a region, as well as honouring the hard-working men and women who put their blood, sweat and tears into our industry every day to build and maintain our infrastructure.”
The event featured 17 categories of awards honouring people and companies and recognising outstanding projects.
The prestigious Contractor of the Year Supreme Award, sponsored by Pivot & Pace, was won by Isaac Construction, a stalwart of the Canterbury civil construction scene that picked up a swathe of four of awards across the evening.
Among the winning projects were HEB’s rescue mission to secure a flood-damaged rail bridge over the Rangitata River, Isaac Construction’s exemplary work on watermains on Christchurch’s Memorial Avenue, and Christchurch company Hunter Civil’s work on Awatea Pump station in Nelson.
Stand-out people celebrated included industry icon Terry Lock, recipient of the CCNZ Canterbury Westland Branch Outstanding Service Award and Murray Francis from Road Metals, who was awarded CCNZ Canterbury Westland Branch Life Membership. Young Contractor of the Year Award winner Frazer Densem from Fulton Hogan also impressed with an inspiring approach to his work.
The theme of this year’s awards was water, which nourishes, renews, and sustains, while connecting people and opening up possibilities for growth and transformation, Haywood said.
“Just as rivers shape landscapes, each of us here tonight plays a role in shaping the future of civil construction. Our incredible industry drives the development of essential infrastructure, building a better New Zealand for everyone.”
The 2024 edition of the CCNZ Canterbury Westland Hynds and Liebherr Contractor of the Year Awards was MC’d by media personality Hilary Barry. The event has been running for more than 25 years and attendees came from across Canterbury and Westland to attend on the night.
This year's winners
Category A: projects with a value of up to $500,000 – sponsored by Geosynthetic Partners International Ltd (GPIL)
Winner: CORDE for the Eastman Wetland Bridge
Judges’ citation: “CORDE’s delivery of this project was exceptional. From the effort its team put in, to preparing the construction management plan, to the quality of the finished product – their project management and execution was exemplary. Unexpected challenges included the river being wider than it was supposed to be and the specified anchor blocks not fitting the piles. The client was appreciative of CORDE’s collaborative approach to their relationship and its commitment to doing all it could to protect the surrounding wetland environment.”
Category B: projects with a value of $500,000 to $2.5m – sponsored by Commercial Vehicle Holdings
Winner: HEB Construction for the Rangitata River Pier – Bridge 57
Judges’ citation: “Civil contractors live for projects that showcase to the wider community the extraordinary things that they can do. When HEB was asked to urgently replace a washed-out pier to restore a network-critical rail bridge over the Rangitata River they did exactly that. The river had to be diverted and the superstructure made safe before temporary supports could be installed to enable the sagging bridge deck to be jacked back up and the replacement piles and precast pier head to be installed. HEB’s fast-track management of both design and construction had the railway back in operation just 12 days after getting the call from KiwiRail and the permanent works completed four weeks later – without any compromise of health and safety, environmental or quality standards.”
Highly commended: Fulton Hogan – State Highway 73 Candy’s Creek Bridge and Rock Shelter resurfacing project.
Highly commended: Hunter Civil – Bridle Path retaining wall construction project.
Highly commended: Issac Construction – Arthur’s Pass Railway Station track upgrades project.
Category C: projects with a value of $2.5m to $5m – sponsored by Roading and Building Cartage
Winner: Isaac Construction for the Memorial Avenue watermain renewals
Judges’ citation: “The installation of kilometres of watermains under a busy arterial road with several major intersections to cross, a myriad of existing services to protect and residents who had already endured other disruptive roadworks necessitated exceptional stakeholder engagement. Isaac Construction offered a ‘high impact – low duration’ approach that Canterbury City Council accepted. With multiple concurrent work teams, detailed programming, and night shifts at intersections this challenging project was delivered to a very high standard with only positive feedback.”
Highly commended: Hunter Civil – Diamond Harbour Wharf project.
Category D: projects with a value in excess of $5m – sponsored by Hirepool
Winner: Hunter Civil - Awatea Place pump station construction
Judges’ citation: “This was a challenging and complex project set in a difficult environment amongst an urban area, with restricted height conditions, a high water table and a stream running through the site. Hunter Civil navigated this environment to decommission two existing pump stations, de-water and sheet pile for the installation of a new nine-metre-deep pump station, with a gravity-sewer and rising-main, including an above-ground tank storage. The winner successfully completed the technically challenging project to strengthen Nelson’s infrastructure, while receiving praise from the public and stakeholders due to its high standard of project management and innovation.”
Highly commended: Isaac Construction – Orion 66kV Bromley Substation to Milton Substation
Subcontractor of the Year Award – sponsored by Fulton Hogan
Winner: March Construction for the Wellington Town Hall redevelopment
Judges’ citation: “Wellington City Council decided to include a basement under its heritage-listed town hall during its earthquake strengthening and redevelopment project. Naylor Love, the main building contractor, sought the expertise of March Construction to confirm feasibility and formulate a methodology. The challenge involved installing 6m sheet piles with only 5m headroom 200mm from the building’s foundations, and designing and installing dewatering plant to allow excavation 4m below tidal influenced groundwater level on a confined site in Wellington’s CBD. The success of this project is testament to the skills and expertise of March Construction’s team.”
CCNZ Canterbury Westland Branch Outstanding Service Award
Winner: Terry Lock
Judges’ citation: “Terry Lock's contribution to the Canterbury Westland branch has been nothing short of legendary. Terry dedicated 46 years of his career to Gough and served on the branch committee for over 30 years. When he retired in 2010, he was awarded life membership for his remarkable service to the Canterbury Westland branch. Throughout his time on the committee, Terry spent nearly 20 years organising branch award nights and took on the vital role of managing the branch's finances, ensuring there were always funds in the kitty. Terry is a true icon in the civil construction industry.”
CCNZ Canterbury Westland Branch Life Membership Award
Murray Francis from Road Metals
Judges’ citation: “When Murray was 13, he was already behind the controls of a front-end loader during school holidays. It wasn’t just a one-off experience – it was the beginning of a deep passion for the civil industry that would carry him through life. Murray has been a significant part of the New Zealand Contractors’ Federation for most of his career, bringing his wealth of experience and dedication to the organisation. His time on the Canterbury Branch Committee from 1987 until 1995 is something he looks back on fondly. What Murray loves most about the industry is the people—the genuine, hardworking contractors who’ve become his close friends, the dedicated staff who he considers his greatest asset, and the opportunity to connect with new faces and enjoy a beer with his CCNZ mates. Murray’s journey is nothing less than inspirational and his contributions have left a lasting impact on our industry.”
Young Contractor of the Year Award – jointly sponsored by EPIC Recruitment and RB Cartage
Winner: Frazer Densem from Fulton Hogan
Judges’ citation: “Frazer demonstrates that an old-school handshake can be relied upon, his word is valuable and that he can work through challenges logically while focussing on finding a solution. He has a commitment to see each project through and leave the earth in a better place than he found it. Frazer shares a genuine care of those around him, a humility to learn and grow from his peers, a kind and balanced head dealing with all levels of personnel, and a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-help-out attitude.”
CCNZ CablePrice Canterbury Westland Excavator Operator Competition
Winner: Georgia Lyford from Schick Civil Construction
Judges’ citation: “Competing against 25 other operators at the CCNZ CablePrice regional competition, Georgia demonstrated exceptional skill and determination across a range of challenging tasks, including truck loading, egg and spoon, teapot and a 360-degree 'log walk'. Representing Schick Civil Construction’s Christchurch branch as the only female competitor, she not only secured her place in the national finals but also inspired future generations, setting an empowering example for young women in civil construction. In her own words: “I won it for the girls.”
Community Image Award – sponsored by Smith Crane and Construction
Winner: Isaac Construction for the Bromley substation
Judges’ citation: “This project required Isaac Construction to trench and de-water over 7,500 meters, more than 1.5-meters deep through residential streets and main arterial roads to bolster Christchurch’s electrical supply. This required an extremely high level of planning and communication with the stakeholders and road users, including KiwiRail. Meticulous traffic-management planning, careful project staging, together with Isaac Construction’s emphasis on pro-active forward-thinking communications, engagement and stakeholder collaboration enhanced our industry’s reputation for effective communication.”
Most Progressive Company Award – sponsored by Tend2Create
Winner: Hunter Civil
Judges’ citation: “Taking on challenging projects is nothing new to Graham Hunter and his team. This year has seen Hunter Civil broaden its portfolio even further with wharf design and construction, collaborative early-contractor involvement in retaining wall work and highly-detailed construction methodology to seamlessly construct a major sewer pump station. The company has also established a base in another region and further grown its Christchurch capability, while continuously developing leading-edge technologies in the management and construction of complex projects.”
Health and Safety Award – sponsored by TDX
Winner: Higgins
Judges’ citation: “Higgins stood out this year for their clever use of cloud-based systems to improve their management of health and safety, such as their RADAR real-time incident reporting and management system and the ROAM app given to site personnel.”
Training Award – sponsored by Connexis Te Pūkenga
Winner: HEB Construction
Judges’ citation: “HEB’s learning and development team has expanded their focus from simply skills training and wellbeing, to focussing on a full wrap-around programme to support career development. This approach supports HEB’s goal of growing the capability of all its people across each of its business sectors. The strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion leads to the positive impacts of the programme flowing back into employees’ whānau networks and the communities they live in.”
Supplier of the Year Award – sponsored by CORDE
Winner: Fulton Hogan’s Miners Road Asphalt Plant
Judges’ citation: “The Fulton Hogan Miners Road Asphalt Plant is vital to Canterbury’s construction industry, producing around 100,000 tonnes of asphalt annually and averaging 30 truckloads per day. Supplying a wide range of mixes from footpaths to heavy-duty airport and port applications, the plant’s dedicated team often works around the clock, including nights and weekends, to meet project and community requirements. Their commitment and adaptability make the plant a pillar of quality and reliability in the region.”
Environmental Award – sponsored by EnviroCo
Winner: BG Contracting
Judges’ citation: “BG Construction’s commitment to minimising the environmental impact of their work has been clear, due to a strong focus on silt prevention, dust control, and preservation of local flora and fauna. The host of sustainable practices BG Contracting have demonstrated include on-site crushing to process aggregate, using recycled asphalt product for haul roads, and employing sound de-watering techniques.”
Innovation Award – sponsored by AB Equipment
Winner: Hunter Civil
Judges’ citation: “Innovation is about doing things differently to get a better result. Hunter Civil did this on all of their submitted projects, from the several significant design changes they initiated on the Awatea Pump Station to the slip-spanning work platform used to construct the Bridle Path retaining wall. In all cases, the focus was on providing better outcomes in health and safety, cost, time, constructability, and the value of the completed works for not just themselves but their clients and other project stakeholders.”
Underground Services Award – sponsored by Polyweld
Winner: Isaac Construction
Judges’ citation: “Isaac Construction’s expertise in project management, innovation and community engagement, has proven with the Memorial Ave upgrade and the Bromley power bolstering project, that intrusive work in the public eye can be completed with minimal disruption. In both cases the public and stakeholders gave nothing but high praise.”
Contractor of the Year Supreme Award – sponsored by Pivot & Pace
Winner: Isaac Construction
Judges’ citation: “Despite being faced with an outstanding array of projects this year to consider for the Supreme Award, one contractor was always at or near the top of the class. Isaac Construction stood out for repeatedly excelling with complex traffic and local-resident management, and developing and executing highly-detailed construction programmes within challenging site constraints. Its impressive record included respect for the environment and continuously operating to its own high quality and health, safety and wellbeing values.”