While extraction work has not stopped at the quarry, this final phase will be high up on the hillside and visible to people in the area including those travelling up the gorge.
“In many respects this is business as usual at the quarry except that people will be able to see work being done on the hillside. However, there should be no additional disruptions for residents and businesses in the area,” says Brad Singh, Wellington City Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Manager.
The work will include removing clay and soil from the top of the hill and extracting quality rock, then reshaping the face of the hill. The removed clay will be used to fill in an existing pit which has been quarried on the Kiwi Point site. The hillside terraces will then be planted with vegetation and hydro-seeded.
The work will be weather-dependent and undertaken during regular working hours for the quarry. This work could take up to three years to complete.
The City Council has extracted rock, used to make concrete and construct roads, from the quarry since the1920s.
Councillor Sean Rush, head of the Council’s Infrastructure Committee, says quarrying rock is critical to infrastructure projects in the region and provides for the future growth and development of the city.
“The quarry’s central location makes it convenient and cost-effective for the city. If we had to bring in aggregate material from outside Wellington, construction costs would skyrocket,” Cr Rush says.
It is estimated that 60 per cent of the aggregate produced at Kiwi Point Quarry was used for road construction.
To future-proof the supply of aggregate construction materials for Wellington, the Council’s District Plan allows for the future opening of the ‘south face’ of the quarry for extraction activities.
The quarry is owned by the City Council and has been operated by Leach Kiwi Point since June this year.