Watt demolishes the opposition at Manawatū Whanganui excavator operator competition

03 Mar 2025

Palmerston North’s Daniel Watt may work in demolition every day, but his smashing effort to win yesterday’s Civil Contractors New Zealand CablePrice Manawatū Whanganui Regional Excavator Operator Competition will surely be his most memorable demolition job yet.

The event, held at the National Driver Training Centre in Feilding, saw 14 of the region’s elite operators tackle ingenious tests of excavator expertise in front of a packed crowd.

Watt, who works for local company ARC Asbestos Removal and Demolition, said he was thrilled to pick up the win in his first ever attempt at the regional competition.

“I’ve been in civil construction for 15 years so it didn’t phase me. The competition is a bit different, but our jobs in demolition are pretty unusual as it is – all my work is done with big buildings above me and other buildings all around, so you can’t get it wrong.”

The course completed by Watt and his fellow Manawatū Whanganui operators featured eye-catching challenges including slam dunking a basketball through a manhole, delicately pouring a cup of tea and writing words with a paint brush using just their excavator buckets.

The Manawatū-Whanganui regional event also incorporated more standard industry tests, such as a first aid quiz and a test of quickly and precisely loading an excavator onto a truck.

While Watt received a great prize pack for his victory over second-placed Thomas Bishop and third-placed Jeremiah Waitokia, his biggest prize is a spot in the national finals at the Central District Field Days in Feilding on 13-15 March.

It will be his first appearance at the nationals, where he will represent Manawatū Whanganui as the ‘hometown hero’ against 11 other winners from regional competitions in a quest to become New Zealand’s ultimate excavator operator champion.

“I’ll just go into it with the same approach and try to keep an open mind. I’ll definitely have the home support – there should be a good 15 people cheering me on, family and people from the company.”

Civil Contractors New Zealand Manawatū Whanganui Branch Chair Greg Lumsden said there was a healthy number of entries for the regional competition this year, with five operators on the waitlist.

“It was a cracking day out there and we had one operator who really stood out and he was the winner. Hopefully It will get others thinking about all the career opportunities out there in civil construction and where they could take them.”

The event, now in its fourth decade, also featured an inter-company competition, where regional companies fielded teams of two operators, tackling the same course to compete for the highest combined points score and bragging rights amongst their peers. That competition was won by ARC Asbestos Removal and Demolition, as Watt and Bishop made it a one-two for ARC.

The Civil Contractors New Zealand CablePrice Manawatū Whanganui Regional Excavator Operator Competition was made possible by the support of major sponsors CablePrice, Attach2, Connexis, First Gas, Hirepool and Humes. The event was also supported by an army of volunteers, helpful judges and local businesses.