Watercare Services Limited's Sewer Tunnel Project on the Hobson Bay Is a Model of Engineering Efficiency

Online, June 22, 2010 (Newswire.com) - (San Diego, CA)-In an interview with Business Review Australia, Michael Sheffield of Watercare Services Limited and project manager for the Hobson Bay Sewer Tunnel project discusses the Auckland's ambitious plan to replace an aging sewer system with an innovative sewer tunnel under the Hobson Bay. The current sewer system serves over 25 percent of Auckland's population. The $118.6 million Hobson Bay Sewer project was planned to accommodate the population increases expected to occur over the next 50 to 100 years.

"The new system was designed to have a significant storage capacity so that during a storm, the increased flows-which would be several times the normal flow-could be held in the system and not overflow into the harbour," said Sheffield.

Watercare Services Limited carefully chose the tunneling method and technology most appropriate for the environment, geology and type of project. "Tunnels are notorious for being late and over cost primarily because they involve ground conditions that, even with the best equipment in the world, you don't know exactly what's there," Sheffield said. "You can do a significant amount of site investigation, but you can only drill a certain number of holes."

The Hobson Bay Sewer Tunnel project is set to finish early and on-budget. Read the full article http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/company-reports/watercare-services-limited.

About Watercare Services Limited
Watercare Services Limited, a public agency, is the largest water and wastewater company in New Zealand. The company supplies an average of 347,000 cubic metres of water from several dams and resources to several water retailers in the Auckland area every day. The company is responsible for several pipeline and tunnel renovations in the future to bring the existing pipelines into the 21st century.