Heron Construction to Dredge Napier Port

HEB construction and Napier Port have restarted building Hawke’s Bay’s biggest wharf, which will allow the region to welcome more and larger ships.

According to the port, HEB Construction are back on track to start piling this week. As mentioned in the March update, the wharf will be supported by nearly 400 concrete piles that will be driven up to 35 metres to the underlying sandstone rock.

“Piling produces the most noise during the project. However, we have a number of mitigation strategies in place to minimise the impact as much as possible for our neighbours, which you can read about in our construction noise management plan,” the port said.

Heron Construction and Dredging plan to start dredging at the end of this month and finish the dredging work required to build the wharf (stage one) towards the end of 2021.

Stage one involves excavating around 1.3 million cubic metres of material so ships can safely use the wharf. Using a backhoe dredge, the contractor will deposit most of the material at the newly consented site around 5 kilometres east of the port.

Stages two to five dredging will only take place if ships with even deeper drafts indicate that they will call at the port.

“We’re focused on ensuring we protect the marine environment from adverse effects that can be associated with dredging. We’ve been working with mana whenua and the fishing community to ensure we protect water quality and fisheries throughout as well as Pania Reef,” the port announced.