Fletcher Construction

As you hit the road with whānau and friends this holiday season, please drive safely through roadworks and make it home safely. If you can, give our hardworking roadworkers a friendly wave and a smile. Have a fantastic holiday!

Matt Zame, Project Director of the Eastern Busway Alliance, wraps up the year with special thanks to everyone who’s helping the busway to grow. See Matt's message and a fly-through of progress in this video.

We’ve extended our partnership with Hello Period™ to donate reusable menstrual products to Women's Refuge this Christmas. We’ve donated $1000 which means 100 reusable pads have gone to the refuge – and Hello Period have matched our donation. We started working together earlier this year when we joined the Hello Period workplace scheme, allowing all women at Fletcher Construction to access their products for free. This is a game-changer for our women and in particular, those who are working sometimes on remote sites where managing periods can be difficult.

Recently the Eastern Busway Alliance was invited by Auckland Transport to present on our Operational Excellence (or OE) programme. AT has been keen to know how the alliance has introduced global best practices in continuous improvement such as Lean and Six Sigma into our strategic and operational activities. Sharon Coles – engineering manager, Thomas Willetts CEng MICE, Fiona Tang and Reza Rajaiy from our Owner Interface Management team, and Andrew Mandile PhD – OE coach, gave an overview of our successes so far. About 60 people from AT attended in person and online to hear Andrew summarise what OE is and how it’s been applied on the Eastern Busway project. He encouraged the audience to think about how they can use OE to deliver aspects of AT’s business plan and strategic objectives. Reza and Fiona brought the concepts to life by talking about their own OE projects and how it’s helped them to deliver lasting improvements for the alliance. Tom and Sharon acknowledged how OE has changed the way the alliance pursues excellence through new practices and skills. Thanks to Auckland Transport, as the client of the Eastern Busway project, for being eager to share some of the good work being done by the alliance.

Project site offices are often connected to mains power or diesel generators when mains power is unavailable. Our Brian Perry Civil team has embraced an eco-friendly alternative by using solar power. In collaboration with Castle Solar Office, BPC has developed solar-powered smoko rooms in areas without mains power. These rooms are equipped with solar panels that generate 2.4 kilowatts of power for immediate use, with surplus energy stored in batteries. During periods of low sunlight or high demand, the stored energy acts as a backup. This system can power everything within the room, including lighting, heating, and cooling, making it entirely self-sufficient. The solar-powered setup not only helps reduce carbon emissions but also provides savings on diesel fuel, labour, and maintenance. The team plans to implement this solution in other smoko sheds and stands on-site.

We recently celebrated our graduate class of 2024, who have successfully completed their two-year journey in the Fletcher Construction Graduate Programme. Over the past two years, fourteen talented graduates have worked across our three business units: Fletcher Construction, Brian Perry Civil, and Higgins. Sarah McKenzie, our Early in Career Programme Lead, shared her heartfelt thoughts: "It has been my absolute privilege to support these graduates throughout their journey. Seeing their growth from the time they first joined the company to now is incredibly rewarding. I know they will all have wonderful careers ahead of them." We wish all our graduates the very best in the next chapter of their professional journey: Abhijith Janardhanan, Amy Huang, Anna Du, Ara Cho, Declan Leen, Delia Yang, Eli Mossop, Emily Tong, Gidon (Gustav) Konig, Huiying Li, James Kemp, Jeonghyun Seo, Joshua Potgieter, Rachel Duncan, Rachel Wang, and Tom Morton.

It has taken just eight months to dig 24 foundation piles each 30 metres deep and build 14 tall piers that will support Rā Hihi (flyover) above Reeves Road and across Tī Rākau Drive in Pakūranga as part of the Eastern Busway project. The final two piers will be poured in December marking a progress milestone and enabling 136 concrete “Super T” beams to continue to be added across the top of the structure. Work to build Rā Hihi began in March 2024 and is on track to be completed in 2025 on time and within budget. Rā Hihi is part of the Eastern Busway project that will improve travel times and help to ease congestion in East Auckland. Establishing this direct link carrying 4 lanes of traffic between Pakūranga Road and the South Eastern Highway will lead to a reduction in traffic by up to 40% along Pakūranga Road and Tī Rākau Drive, particularly during peak hours. During construction, access to the Pakūranga town centre, local businesses and homes is being maintained to minimise the impacts on the community, and information about other available routes is provided to help residents navigate the changing road layouts. The Eastern Busway project is being delivered by an alliance of Auckland Transport with Fletcher Construction, ACCIONA, AECOM and Jacobs in partnership with mana whenua.

With 17 years of experience in the Construction Division, Justin Johnson currently serves as the Innovation Project Manager in Engineering Services, supporting Fletcher Construction, Brian Perry Civil, and Higgins. Justin’s journey began in 2005 as a site engineer, and since then, he has worked across multiple business units including Pipeworks, Fletcher Major Projects, BPC, and Engineering Services. Justin leads teams through innovation sprints and deep dive processes, and for over three years, has facilitated our Lunch and Learn sessions on innovation and sustainability, featuring both internal and external speakers. He also manages the company’s internal innovation knowledge-sharing programme, which has generated numerous Innovation Sustainability and Digital in Practice (ISDIP) documents to support our bids, the business library of knowledge, and the Leadership in Construction webpage https://ow.ly/jjVg50UqggL. Justin’s passion for searching the world for unique and innovative construction solutions to identified problem areas makes him the ideal innovation champion. He researches and investigates new technologies to improve day-to-day tasks and find efficiencies for our clients and communities. He’s also a member of the AI working group, deeply involved in the research and implementation of emerging AI technologies. Justin says innovation means different things to different people and organisations. “I view it through a continuous improvement lens, where ideas, no matter how big or small, are recognised and built upon to make us run more efficiently. Innovation is crucial for our company's efficiency and competitiveness, keeping us aware of new technologies and processes. With the innovations we're currently exploring, I believe we can lead the industry in construction innovation.”

We’re thrilled to have hosted the recent HERA Ngākopa Construction 4.0Hub Conference at our Penrose Campus. The conference highlighted the latest advancements in AI, sustainability, and data-driven innovations, offering attendees valuable insights into transforming their operations and projects. A special emphasis was placed on integrating circular design and mātauranga Māori into the sector, ensuring a uniquely Aotearoa perspective on innovation. Brendan Attewell, our Engineering Services & Innovation Manager, remarked, "The day was filled with insightful perspectives and discussions on the challenges of technology adoption in Aotearoa. We are striving to bridge the gap from traditional paper-based construction workflows to modern, data-rich, model-based project procurement and delivery processes. The potential value of Construction 4.0 is being realized internationally, and Aotearoa must learn and adapt to achieve more with even less." The conference showcased the HERA led research, including researchers from four New Zealand universities and four international universities, aiming to unlock meaningful value and drive sustainable change. "The research clearly indicates that we need to act now and not wait for government mandates to drive change. Construction 4.0 promises value for all stakeholders willing to collaborate both upstream and downstream. Aotearoa needs a 4.0 enabled construction sector, and I will be closely monitoring the research outcomes to shape the role that we play in collaboration with others," added Brendan. The Ngākopa Construction4.0Hub is a repository for all things Construction 4.0, including reports, publications, data, findings, references, and research outcomes. It is specifically where HERA and its collaborators will share information relating to the project titled "Developing a Construction 4.0 transformation of Aotearoa New Zealand's construction sector." Click https://ow.ly/xQ1I50UhcaH to visit the Hub.