No more construction

The finishing touches were done to the jetty in September 2023, in time for the grand opening on 30 September 2023. What a day! You can read more about it on the Opening the Jetty page.

The jetty was certified as code compliant in December 2023.

However, the work of Governors Bay Jetty Restoration Trust is not over. Our first priority is to repay the money that we borrowed from the Council to pay for the rebuild.

The final total project cost was a little over $3.8 million, up from the estimated cost of $3.5 million. So long as the Council contributes 50% of the final cost, the jetty trust will owe $300,000.

In 2024, the jetty trust will continue to fundraise by selling the salvaged jetty timbers and seeking plank sponsors (only 75 standard planks left) and premium "front plank" sponsors (includes a logo).

We are also:

Enhancements to the jetty

The jetty is already awesome, but we're going to make it even better.
In 2024, we will:

  • install a round of wood to go on the end of the jetty to be used as a fish chopping block.

  • add another 12 to 16  benches on the jetty, to join the four benches already on the jetty (two of these are one-off larger memorial benches - the standard benches are 1.6m long without a back-rest). Seven of the new benches already have sponsors (with a plaque recognising those who have contributed $10,000 or more to the rebuild) and the remaining 5 to 9 are available to be sponsored.

  • put a water depth gauge at the seaward end of the jetty so that you can see how deep the water is before jumping or swimming.

  • put up a small number of information signs, for example about the landscape and surrounding environment and about the history of the jetty.

  • talk to the Council about landscaping on the land adjacent to the jetty.

We would like to put public binoculars at the end of the jetty, but we would need a sponsor to fund this.
There is limited parking and turning near to the jetty, which is sometimes an issue at busy times (hot, sunny weekends). We are keeping an eye on it so we can report to the Council's traffic engineers.

The first official jetty jump was on 30 September 2023, by 16 members of the Canterbury Open Water Swimming Association

Tales of piles, planking, and plaques

A lot has happened since our last update back in February and we’ve been juggling lots of different jetty-related balls.

After the last pile was sunk in May, the team turned their minds to removing the old jetty. Within a mere 2 or 3 weeks, the old jetty was gone! But fear not, it did not go to landfill. It has been transported to a farm in Teddington where our amazing team of volunteers have started sorting the different timber types into piles.

We are selling the old timber, as well as offcuts of the new hardwood. The jetty was deconstructed in spans of 5 to 8 metres, so there is a lot of dismantling to be done. It will likely take us a couple of months, especially as we need a digger to move the stringers and piles around.

If you are interested in buying some timber and you have not already been in contact with us, please email savethejetty@gmail.com to go on our list of people to email when we are ready to sell.

With the piles in place, the builders were able to complete the sub-structure and carry on with the decking. The jetty is now completely decked, all the way up to the end of the seaward platform.

Now the big question – when will it be completed and open to the public?

Here’s what still needs to be done:

  • Finish installing handrails

  • Install cross-bracing

  • Build the ramps (there are 3 ramps on the jetty)

  • Install access slope at the landward end

In February, our anticipated opening date was late June. However, as the builders approached the end of the jetty, it became clear that we were going to run out of some types of timber. Some of it will take at least 4 weeks to arrive. There was enough decking timber for all of the platform, but not enough for the ramps, so we have had to look at an alternative solution for these, weighing up cost and availability of materials.

What does this mean? It will not be open to the public before the end of September.

Meanwhile, we were very excited to receive 556 plaques, each etched to recognise the financial donation made by our plank sponsors. One of our trustees is a technical writer, so she spent about 10 hours checking the plaque wording matches what was sent to us and also grouping plaques together for people who have sponsored more than one. The photo shows what it looks like to check and group 556 plaques!

It has been over 5 years since we launched the plank sponsor campaign, so it was amazing to finally get our hands on the plaques. We will start putting them on the jetty as soon as we have a dry weekend - they are going to be screwed and glued to the planks so they are as secure as possible.

We made a beautiful plaque plank plan and got permission to go onto the jetty to check the plan against reality. Alas, the plan was thrown to the wind.

We have always said “there are 1500 planks on the jetty”, and that’s true. However, a much smaller number of planks are wide enough for our plaques (which are 16cm x 8cm). Heaps of the Eucalyptus Globoidea planks are too narrow as they had to be cut thinner due to bending and we didn’t want to waste them. Plus our inspection of the jetty revealed what is obvious in hindsight – for every 8 to 9 planks, 1 or 2 have the handrail posts cut into the end, which is where the plaques will be.

Long story short, there are around 700 standard planks wide enough for a plaque. We have 556 plaques already, so that leaves around 150 planks to be sponsored for $600 each.

We do have a 69 “front planks” available as well. These are on the first section of the jetty, from the land to the first platform. We are using these ones to recognise sponsors who give $2000 or more, likely to be businesses who want their name in this “primo” position.

The wait for extra timber means that we have time to get another batch of plaques done – there’s a minimum order of 25 and we have 10 so far. Once we get to 25+, we’ll order the last lot of plaques to be etched before the jetty opens. If you missed the 10 May cut off date for the last batch but are thinking about sponsoring a plank, go to our sponsor a plank page to get in the next batch.

The next couple of months will be mega for the jetty.  Keep watching for more updates.

Planking starts soon

It has been a few months since our last update. The festive closedown period took a chunk of time in terms of project progress, and the Trust has been focusing on fundraising. We are delighted to announce that the Lottery Grant Board has contributed $250,000 towards the rebuild - that is HUGE and we thank them heaps.

Construction is going well - it is great to see progress. Everyone is enjoying watching the crew doing their mahi nui (hard work), with the barge an ever-moving feature of the landscape along the jetty. In line with our resource consent, there is a dedicated look-out person for marine mammals (e.g. dolphins) when they are piling through the water column. If there are marine mammals close by, they stop piling until the animals have moved on.

Piles have been installed for well over a third of the length of the jetty. As I write, they are poised to install the decking and handrails along the first part of the jetty, including the landward platform. This means the first part of the jetty will look like a jetty! In the next couple of months, they will continue to put in piles and build the sub-structure, using the old jetty for storage and access.

Once the piles are in and most of the sub-structure is in place, they will remove the old jetty. The plan is for this to happen throughout May 2023. We have a laydown area in Teddington. Our amazing volunteers will sort through the timber for sale - we don’t want anything to go to landfill! We have a list of people interested in buying timber - email us at savethejetty@gmail.com if you want to be added to the list.

This is an historic project and we want the workers on the jetty to know how special their work is to our community. When Dyers Pass Road was being built in the 1800s, John Dyer and other Governors Bay community members provided free meals to the construction workers.

So, we have taken a leaf out of the history book. Every Friday, someone is taking morning tea (sandwiches, cakes, home-baked or shop-bought, whatever) to the jetty workers. Drop off is at 10am. We have a roster - it’s full until mid-April, but email us if you’d like to be added to bake at a later date.

And now to the $3.5 million question - when will the jetty be open? We anticipated it would be by Easter (first week of April). However, like all good projects where you do the job once and do it right, that date has changed. We are now looking at a completion date of mid- to late-June 2023. This gives us a bit more time to raise the $500,000-ish still needed to pay for the rebuild.

Landward platform piles and barge assembly

Piling has now reached the new, large landward platform. The first row of piles on the platform have been driven, leaving another two rows to go. This landward platform is a new feature of the rebuild. It includes a ramp to access the water and is approximately 7.5 metres wide and 21 metres long, which will provide a large space for all sorts of activities.

The initial section of piling from the approach at land to the landward platform has had its challenges. They are the first piles to go in, have non-uniform spacing and go down different depths (to different levels of rock).
Off-site at the construction yard, the timber is being sorted and prepared for construction of the jetty frame. The jetty framing comprises capping beams that run across the piles horizontally (parallel to the shoreline) and stringers that run across and perpendicular to the capping beams. The capping beams will be installed on site with possibly some stringers, and then the remaining stringers and planks will arrive in sections being the spans between each pair of piles.

Our contractor has also recently purchased a new barge, and is in the process of final assembly. The jetty will be the barge’s first job!
Two new aluminium motor boats have been built by the contractor to move the barge about. They have been named “Rāpaki” and “The Governor”.
The barge and boats will soon be a common site in the bay next to the jetty. The barge will provide a working platform and assist with the piling of the balance of the piles. This will no doubt provide a welcome reprieve from the challenges of piling from the mud and the piling speed will likely pick up pace. The barge will also be used for the deconstruction of the old jetty.

Piling continues

The first 4 piles were installed in the week ending 7 October. Work continued the following week installing piles at the landward side of the first 4. Installing these piles involves digging a hole in the mud at low tide, sucking out the water, and then preparing the rock for pile installation, which is then inspected by an engineer before the pile is installed.

Next step will be to fit capping beams and stringers to the piles that have been installed.

Much of the wood for the sub-structure has arrived in NZ. Some of it is still going through the import process, but should be delivered to the contractor’s site in Belfast soon. As it has been transported in multiple loads on various ships, there is a bit of sorting to do.

The Eucalyptus globoidea for the planks, rails, and posts are ready to go. The decking will be constructed off-site, transported in sections, and attached to the sub-structure. starting later this year.

For safety reasons, the road will be closed at the construction site for an hour or two every now and then, during offloading of piles or decking. Other than that, it remains open to pedestrians.

We have piles!

“We have piles”. This is not usually something people say with great happiness, but in this case it is. The first set of piles have been delivered to the jetty, awaiting the start of piling.

The first photo is from Mick Horgan, who has a bird’s eye view of the jetty and captured the moment the piles were delivered. The other photos are from today when Prue and Louisa had the opportunity to show our local MP, Tracey McLellan, the start of physical work.

It has taken many hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteer hours on project stuff over the last 7.5 years to get to this point. Right from the early days of figuring out our options, to those who connected us with and led the supply of timber from Little River, to the tendering and contract process.

This work formed the roots of the project. Now we are starting to see the fruits of everyone’s mahi. Thank you to those involved - you know who you are.

Work has started!!!

Physical work has now started on the rebuild (cue angels blowing trumpets of joy!).

This first stage involves creating a ramp down to the foreshore. Next week (first week of October 2022), piling at the landward end will begin.

Piles for the first 11 spans (bents) of the jetty will be put in from the land. Spans are 5.5m-long, so that’s the first 55 metres of the jetty. After that, they’ll be piling from barge into the deep mud.

Deconstruction of the old jetty will be in two stages. The first stage is to deconstruct the landward end, except for the pre-1990s beams, piles, and cross bracing (about 22 metres of jetty), which will be kept and the new jetty built over the top. Deconstruction of the landward end will happen mid-to-late November.

The next stage is to deconstruct the seaward end of the jetty. This is likely to happen in December 2022 and January 2023.

HEB has updated the construction programme and we are now expecting the rebuild to be completed by Easter 2023 (7 April). Sorry SailGP fans.

Road now closed to public vehicles

The road down to the jetty from the junction of Jetty Road/Creswell Ave is now closed to public vehicles.

It remains open to foot traffic, so you can still enjoy the beautiful foreshore walk.

There may be the odd occasion over the next few months when the road is temporarily closed to everything while trucks unload materials to the site, for safety reasons. HEB Construction will keep the community informed by putting up signs and we’ll share information on this page and on the Jetty Trust’s Facebook page.

Meanwhile, more piles and beams have arrived and are due to be delivered to the contractor’s yard in Belfast any day.

The Environment Canterbury site visit was on 12 September and went well. The handrails (E. globoidea harvested from trees in Little River) are being dressed. Some of the stainless steel fixings are in the country, with the rest on its way and due next month.

The contractors will start work on-site early next week (19/20 September). They will start by setting up the site and working on access and then will install the first piles at the land-end.

We are looking at installing a time lapse/security camera, with the help of HEB. It’s extra money that we’ll have to find somehow, but is a once-in-generations chance to capture this historical rebuild, plus it will provide an online live webcam feed for people to watch the work. How cool would that be!

Getting ready....

The first shipment of piles have now been released and are at the contractor’s yard in Belfast. They are doing an inventory and quality check.

Meanwhile, the handrails have been moved from John Fairweather’s mill in Sefton and are being dressed (to make them smooth).

Timber shipments from Australia are an ever-evolving feast with the freight companies juggling cargoes; something that’s out of our control. But we do know that more piles are on the way and due to land in the next week.

All going to plan (in terms of timber arrivals), we expect the road down to the jetty to be closed in mid-September (possibly as early as 12 September) and site set up to start.

We are soooo close and can’t wait for work to start on-site (there’s work aplenty going on off-site). In anticipation, current and past trustees went down to the jetty last weekend to toast the impending action on the jetty rebuild.

Piles ahoy!!

The first 41 piles arrived today in Lyttelton aboard the Rio Blanco.

They need to be fumigated and inspected, and clear customs, which will take a week-or-so. Then it’s game on and they are ready for work to start on the landward end.

We’re expecting the road down to the jetty to be closed to vehicles in late August - watch out for the road signs. The project will begin with the construction area being fenced off and the site being set up for construction.

In anticipation of access to the jetty stopping soon, I popped down today to take some photos. Here they are! Possibly my last photos on the old jetty.

First shipment of timber has arrived!

First shipment

The first container of timber has arrived in Lyttelton and is clearing customs as I write.

This container is planks for the decking (mostly the platforms). This shipment contains around 844 linear metres of 4.2-metre-long planking.

Timing of road closure

Today, we caught up with the project manager for HEB. The traffic management plan has been approved and they’re currently waiting for ECan to approve the construction management plan. Depending on how long that takes, it’s likely that closure of the road to vehicles will begin around 24 to 26 August, followed by site set-up in early September.

We’ll keep you posted!

To see the design of the new jetty, including the landward and seaward end platforms, see the Project page.

Physical work starts soon

Within the next week or two (possibly starting tomorrow), HEB Construction will establish their site and get ready for physical works to begin before the end of August.

Timber

Our timber is coming from two sources. 

The Eucalyptus Globoidea timber from Little River, which will be used for over half of the planks and all of the balustrades, is milled and ready to go. Soon, it will be moved from John Fairweather’s mill in Sefton to HEB’s construction yard in Belfast.  

The rest of our timber is Australian hardwood and almost half of it is already on its way to Lyttelton and due to arrive in a week or so.

Traffic management and site set up

Last week (first week of August), HEB Construction received approval from the Council for its traffic management plan.

As with any construction project, there will be vehicles accessing the site. HEB will close Jetty Road from the bridge down to the jetty as there will not be sufficient parking and turning space for non-construction vehicles during construction. There will be no access for vehicles, but there will be walking access down Jetty Road to the foreshore track.  The construction site will be fenced off and there will be a site container, site offices, a small laydown area, and toilets for workers.

The majority of construction will be performed from a barge, which limits construction traffic accessing the site from Governors Bay.  The land based vehicle movements will be mainly small (utes/trailers), and anything bigger will have an escort vehicle with it.  All construction movements to and from the site will cease during school drop off and pick up times.

Get in touch

If you have any concerns or wish to find out more, please email us at savethejetty@gmail.com and we’ll endeavour to come back to you as soon as possible.

Timber ready for shipping

Welcome to the first of our construction updates! Things are hotting up.

The contract with HEB Construction kicks in on 1 August 2022. They are busy with their preconstruction work, such as traffic management planning and consent compliance paperwork.

Meanwhile, a lot of the hardwood timber is ready to be shipped from Brisbane, Australia. The whole of the substructure of the new jetty (piles, bearers, and beams) is Australian hardwood, which has amazing durability in the marine environment. We didn’t have enough jetty forest timber for all of the planks (we had to reject about 30% due to splitting or knots - this timber is being made into garden furniture), so around half of the planks and the timber for the two ramps are Australian hardwood.

For those who love data and ships, read on! You can track the ships online. Our timber is due to depart from Brisbane in the first week of August and should take a couple of weeks to arrive.

  • 201 x 4.2m planks are coming on the Kota Lambang: Ship tracker

  • 74 x 11.8m piles are coming on the CMA CGM Seattle: Ship tracker

  • 15 x 8m piles, 8 x 6m piles, 59 x 4.2m planks and 850 x 3m planks are coming on the Rio Blanco: Ship tracker

  • 360m of beams/bearers are coming on the Xin Zhang Zhou: Ship tracker

  • 14,780kg of beams/bearers are coming on the Hyundia Tacoma: Ship tracker

Stay tuned for more construction updates. Our next one will be about the start of physical work and traffic management plans.