Two South Island quarries entries proved too good to separate as winners in the annual MIMICO environment and community awards run by the Aggregate and Quarry Association. Canterbury quarries also featured in two other awards (details later in release.)
Two South Island quarries entries proved too good to separate as winners in the annual MIMICO environment and community awards run by the Aggregate and Quarry Association. Canterbury quarries also featured in two other awards.
Christchurch Ready-Mix Concrete’s installation of a filter press water treatment system and Fulton Hogan Dunedin’s community and iwi engagement for the Otago Peninsula Connection Project shared the prize, announced Friday night at the conclusion of the annual QuarryNZ conference in Invercargill.
Awards judge, former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Morgan Williams says Christchurch Ready Mix’s project to manage silt in water extracted from the Waimakariri River had delivered spectacular benefits on costs, reduced water and fuel. Two other Canterbury companies had also installed filter presses in the last year and he says Christchurch Ready Mix is a true leader in environmental mitigation and energy/carbon footprint reduction.
In judging Fulton Hogan’s Peninsula project, Dr Williams says it faced major challenges with a road widening project including construction of a new sea wall on a very narrow carriage way and many rural, residential and iwi communities. He said every member of the Fulton Hogan team helped build trust. This included new New Zealander stone masons recruited for the sea wall work. Dr Morgan said Fulton Hogan Dunedin provided a great model on how to empower staff and work with communities and iwi.
MIMICO General Manager Chris Gray says the Matamata-based supplier of heavy machinery is pleased to see community engagement by the quarry industry also now feature alongside environmental achievements in the annual awards.
“We don’t really get recognised in the quarry industry for all our efforts supporting good environmental outcomes and working with communities and these awards reflect the broad scope of effort by all the entrants and the wider sector.”
Mr Gray was elected to the Institute of Quarrying NZ board during the QuarryNZ
Conference, attended by more than 600 people. Other annual awards included GBC Winstone’s Meremere quarry manager Kerry Reilly who beat international competition to win the the Caernarfon Award presented annually for the best paper given at an Institute of Quarrying meeting anywhere in the world.
The paper, on designing and building a wetland to deal with dirty water, was inspired by Lady Diana Isaac’s work with wetlands at her company’s Christchurch quarry.
The Winstone Aggregates Safety Award went to Fulton Hogan’s Pound Rd quarry near Christchurch, managed by Roy Haberfield.