New best practice in managing environmental impacts

Auckland Harbour Bridge adaptive management framework project wins again.

Boffa Miskell is proud to be associated with the Merit Award that went to the Auckland Harbour Bridge Alliance for the Auckland Harbour Bridge Adaptive Asset Management Framework in the ACENZ INNOVATE Awards 2016. The annual awards, run by the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ), recognise excellence in engineering and consulting of a standard that exceeds normal expectations, including in innovation.

Boffa Miskell ecologists helped develop the Adaptive Management Framework for managing the environmental impacts of maintenance on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, for which the Alliance is responsible. The new adaptive approach was developed as the basis for a flexible consenting framework that focuses on achieving high standard outcomes in relation to the environmental impacts of bridge maintenance, especially on the marine environment.

“It was one of the most enjoyable, innovative and collaborative projects I have worked on,” says ecologist Dr Sharon De Luca, who managed Boffa Miskell’s input to the project team that devised the new framework. The project team also comprised representatives from the New Zealand Transport Agency, Opus, Beca and Air Matters.

The INNOVATE Awards magazine stated about the project, “This project was determined to be Merit-worthy for the adaptive consent process developed by the alliance team, which has set a new best practice for bridge maintenance by the NZ Transport Agency. Through the alliance’s collaborative thinking, the Auckland Harbour area will see a dramatic reduction in discharged contaminants to land, air and coast as well as saving the client a considerable amount of future cost.”

The Auckland Harbour Bridge Adaptive Management Framework also won Best Practice Award for Excellence in Integrated Planning at the annual New Zealand Planning Institute Awards in 2015.