Port Marlborough announced on November 4 the start of its Havelock Channel reinstatement and marina redevelopment project in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds, with contractor Isaac Construction to establish on site on Monday, November 9.
The port said storms in 2021 and 2022 increased its estimated channel maintenance dredging requirement from approximately 1,500 cubic metres every five years to approximately 20,000 cubic metres over the same period.
"With the volume of dredging now required, the cost of maintaining the channel has increased significantly," said Port Marlborough Chief Executive Rhys Welbourn.
The project will restore the entire channel, within and beyond the marina boundary. Follow-up dredging campaigns will take place every five years.
Isaac Construction has scheduled dredging enabling works from November 9 and removal of Piers D and E in December. Dredging of the marina basin will follow from January 2027.
Dredged sediment will be dewatered within the marina and transported to a deposition site south of Havelock.
A NZ$9.9 million ($5.54 million) loan from the government's regional infrastructure fund supports the project, which has a total cost of NZ$19.8 million. The redevelopment is scheduled to run through December 2027.
The port said approximately 80 per cent of Marlborough's aquaculture production is landed through Havelock, where local mussel harvesters have been designed with shallow draught to access the port.