Te Ara Tupua, delivered by the NZ Transport Agency in partnership with iwi mana whenua Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika and Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a complex multistage contract to provide safe, accessible and resilient connections from Ngauranga Interchange to Honiana Te Puni Reserve in Petone and connect with the new Pito-One to Melling section in Wellington.

Downer is a member of Te Ara Tupua Alliance delivering the Ngā Ūranga ki Pito-One section of Te Ara Tupua.

The coastline between Ngā Ūranga and Pito-One serves as an important infrastructure corridor containing road, rail, and underlying cables and pipelines. The project aims to enhance resiliency and connectivity for the local community. Te Ara Tupua will introduce a new coastal edge, including seawalls and embankments, designed to protect the road and rail corridor from storm-related impacts. 

In addition to the considerable streetscape and marine elements, the project includes the construction of a new Traction Sub-Station. The Traction Station is a key facility required for the operation of the existing rail network, and replaces the old station built in the 1950s, which has been relocated. Digital shields provided a robust method of working safely around a live rail corridor for the installation of the marine embankment upgrades (protecting contact with trains, rail tracks, moving machinery and overhead power lines). By working closely with KiwiRail, Downer ensured the continuation of safe rail operations – public and freight transportation and the digital shields – were adopted as a primary safety control through this project.