Pune Brown is an expert bridge builder, and he’s got a fairly big project on his hands at the moment.
Pune is a Project Engineer with the Council’s Capital Developments Group; “Yep, I build a lot of stuff,” he laughs when it’s suggested he’s fundamentally a builder.
He is currently overseeing the construction of roading interchange and bridge construction which will link Wairere Dr and the new suburb of Peacocke.
“We’re connecting the final part of the Ring Road which will see Cobham Dr raised approximately 6m to allow four-laned Wairere Dr to pass underneath and link to a future bridge over the Waikato River to Peacocke,” he says, a broad grin spreading across his face.
Pune’s role is instrumental to the project: he’s been involved in planning, design and the preparatory work. Diggers, earthworks, vegetative replanting, the approaches to the bridge and intersection – Pune’s project is there for everyone to see and not surprising considering 100,000m³ of dirt has been moved around the site to date.
The job is far from simple, he explains. Amid the myriad of construction work it also involves the relocation of streams, making sure fish can still migrate, and minimising the environmental impact of work which involves extensive excavation and the related movement of thousands of tonnes of material. To date the team has replanted 30,000 plants onsite.
“We must never forget that type of thing,” he says of the environmental mitigations. “Our relationship with tangata whenua is also crucial.”
Some interesting history on the Ring Road site was recently unearthed with the discovery of approximately 300kg of bullet casings. Not surprising given the work site used to be the Hamilton dump and a World War 2 bullet manufacturing station.
Pune’s role isn’t limited to the Wairere-Cobham-Peacocke interchange. He’s also the Council’s representative on the Te Awa regional cycleway project.
“That’s not an easy job either,” he says. “The strategy there is to follow the river along, and there is a lot of infrastructure to be built – bridges over streams, that sort of stuff.”
His role isn’t limited to making sure plans are followed and construction is on-schedule: it extends to risk mitigation, budget monitoring, stakeholder relationships and dealing with a range of different professionals.
“Once you formalise those relationships, it’s more about the ownership of what you do,” he says.
Although Pune has previously overseen the construction of buildings – including in Samoa, as part of United Nations development programmes – the Wairere interchange job is the biggest he’s tackled in terms of cost. It’s a $42M spend, split between the Council and NZTA.
Pune has been in his current role for two years, and he’s had a long career in engineering and project management. He trained in the UK as a mechanical engineer through a scholarship he obtained while still a high school student in his native Samoa.
He’s been in New Zealand for about 30 years, and recalls there being plenty of opportunities to use his skills when he first arrived. He worked for Wellington Municipal Electrical Power Board – a predecessor to NZ Electricity Networks – before taking on roles in the roading industry.
Pune says the transition from mechanical engineering to roading and civil engineering has been aided by ongoing professional development and says the support and guidance of older and more experienced colleagues was vital in making the switch.
He joined the Council as a Special Projects Engineer, based on his previous experience and having been involved in other similar major civil construction projects elsewhere in New Zealand.
Pune says one of the great motivating factors in his profession is seeing the projects concluded and opened to the public. The Wairere interchange, for example, will be completed in 2021 – so there’s still plenty of work to do.
“I think that’s one of the main drivers,” he says. “Your main focus is always looking to the end of the project….the end product.”
There’s also the fact his work is highly visible – any one passing along Cobham Dr can see the fruit of his labour, and when the project is concluded thousands of vehicles a day will pass over and through what is now a complex work site.
“It’s going to have a lot of impact, and you’ve got to make sure you can work closely not only with the general public, but also the team around you to get a really satisfactory outcome for everyone.”