Super•Cor™ Arch - A success story in Flatbush

As demand for housing in Auckland continues, rural land on the edges of the city is being converted into new housing subdivisions. With this comes the need to build infrastructure to cater to the future growth in population - roading, bridges and stormwater management - whilst also taking into account the environmental impacts. Such is the case of a new subdivision in Flat Bush in Auckland’s Eastern Suburbs where the developer has chosen a cost effective and aesthetically pleasing Super•Cor™ Arch from CSP - a super strong, galvanized steel structure - to enable access across a stream on the development.

This is the first installation in the Auckland region of CSP’s Super•Cor™ Arch which was chosen because of its cost effectiveness and the fact that it could be installed without disturbing the stream-bed or the fish. With the installation all but complete, the benefits are coming to light with two further arches ordered for a second stream crossing and another stream further on in the development.

Andrew Hunter, Consulting Engineer for McKenzie & Co, the consultants for the development, explains the reasoning behind the investment. “This subdivision on Murphys Road in Flat Bush will eventually include about 400 sections. There is a stream that is 220m into the development that needed to be protected and crossed to access the land on the other side. Originally the Council required the construction of a bridge to span the stream to allow for a two-lane carriageway and a dedicated walkway on either side, but this option was far too costly.”

Consideration was then given to using a concrete box culvert, which would have meant considerable disruption to the stream-bed. “The Council preferred we find a solution that would protect the stream,” explains Andrew. “It doesn’t have a large volume of fast flowing water but it does contain a few species of native fish. Our challenge was to find a solution that protected the stream, satisfied Council requirements, was economically acceptable to the client and would be an asset to the development. The stream gully is also quite incised and we needed to stay out of the flood plain. CSP’s Super•Cor™ Arch offers the scale, height and width required.”

After investigating and familiarising themselves with the Super•Cor™ Arch option the Council were satisfied it would perform and gave approval to proceed. “This arch is almost complete and because of the success of this first one we have placed two more orders with CSP. In comparison to a bridge they are considerably cheaper to install and then they also just look much better in an urban environment,” says Andrew.