Downer has a longstanding history of providing customer centric road services in New Zealand, with a commitment to continual improvement to achieve service excellence.
Downer builds and maintains roading networks across New Zealand. We manufacture and supply products and services to create safe, efficient and reliable journeys. Our road network solutions are underpinned by industry-leading research, development and innovation and unique asset management tools.
Building roads
Downer has a steeped history in building New Zealand’s roading networks. From the early days of the Public Works Department established in 1870 to develop cross-country transportation, through to the rebuilding of the 194 kilometres of roads that were destroyed during the Kaikoura earthquakes and contributing to the Roads of National Significance that link the most essential routes across New Zealand. Our construction and project teams are some of the best in the country.
Maintaining roads
Our teams provide a range of services in road network management across the country. We assist road asset owners to extract maximum value from their assets and provide road networks that meet the demands of today’s ever-changing environment. From long-term strategic asset stewardship to routine maintenance programs such as our Milford Road Alliance based in Te Anau. Our services are tailored to meet our customers’ needs and objectives and the expectations of road users.
Our specialist expertise in asset modelling, pavement engineering and program optimisation, and our range of systems and tools, achieves long-term network objectives and creates safe, efficient and reliable journeys for road users. Downer provides pavement rehabilitation, sealing and paving solutions to deliver end-to-end value in the management of road networks. We guide and work collaboratively with customers who manage their own assets, helping identify the right product or service for their needs.
Operational asset management
Downer’s advanced asset management approach enables our teams to systematically manage the network and its assets through its life cycle. Continuous data collection and advanced analysis tools are used to form robust forward works programmes and predict the state of future network condition with a high degree of confidence. All physical inspections and task reporting are undertaken using Job Management software. Downer have a range of mobile technologies that support in field data capture. This enables network information to be captured and loaded directly into the database. Collective fault data is used in the formulation of an “all faults defects list” which is used to establish three monthly rolling work programmes and budget forecasting.
Incident and emergency response
Our people live and work in communities throughout New Zealand and have a very strong emergency response culture. Downer is often referred to as the ‘fifth emergency service’ due to our emergency response commitment and performance. Many of our maintenance contracts are in rural areas. We have an outstanding record of responding to road closures, clearing slips/fallen trees, flooding, and clean-up after accidents and spillages. Large flood/slip/rainfall events can involve responses lasting for many weeks involving large numbers of our own staff and subcontractors.
Mobile Mapper
We can now offer a high-speed surveying in motion using a Leica Pegasus Two Ultimate (P2U) Mobile Laser Scanner. This is the only unit of its kind within New Zealand. The benefits of having this technology are many including; A step change in safety - surveying with the P2U is undertaken without putting people in live traffic lanes; faster and more accurate results – it allows self-delivery of results quicker than traditional survey techniques and the Mobile Mapper utilises point cloud and photogrammetric solutions to provide innovative ‘all you can see’ high resolution datasets.
Hawkeye
We have three high speed data surveying vehicles that are operated by skilled technicians, the vehicles survey from Northland to Southland, and everywhere in between. The Hawkeye survey vehicles use the latest in digital laser technology to accurately and continuously record road and pavement information, such as roughness and texture, and relate this data back to GPS or distance based measurements.
More details about Hawkeye
Sustainable Solutions
It’s the trusted relationships we build with our customers, suppliers and the broader industry that enable us to unlock long-term economic, social and environmental value for local communities. An example of this is the waste plastic. New Plymouth District Council approached Downer about their growing waste plastic problem. The local authority had an existing partnership with EnviroNZ and together with Downer the organisations developed a ground-breaking solution - Plas Mix. Plas Mix is raw shredded plastic that goes into asphalt. It is then laid and paved in the same way a traditional asphalt.
More information about Plas Mix
