Unprecedented number of cranes across NZ
The oldest wooden commercial building in Christchurch, the 1860 historic Shand's Emporium building was recently craned onto its final foundations next to the historic Trinity Church on Manchester St.
A record 132 cranes are operating in main centres around New Zealand, according to the latest Rider Levett Bucknall's Crane Index.
The construction boom is most evident in residential and commercial jobs in Auckland, although Christchurch's central city also remains one of the busiest commercial construction sites.
The activity is driven by strong economic growth, high immigration, tourism, solid house building, manufacturing and consumer spending, RLB's Auckland director Chris Haines said.
Wellington crane operator Kevin Hogg in the cab of a McKee Fehl crane in Wellington.
Nationally, construction work put in place grew by 20 per cent or nearly $3.4 billion over the past year to reach $20b.
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It was the fifth year of continuous construction growth since 2011, Haines said.
Cranes were used to lift the 17 tonne roof of the Pop-up Globe at Ellerslie Racecourse during the lead up to opening night in February.
With 25 cranes erected across its central city skyline, Christchurch remains the second busiest construction city in New Zealand.
Health sector construction accounts for several, with four cranes at work on the new Christchurch Hospital for an outpatients building and acute services building, and four at the Forte Health expansion in Peterborough Street and the Health Research Education Facility in Oxford Terrace.
New Queenstown projects with cranes include the Wakatipu High School (two), an additional crane at Kawarau Bridge and a crane each at residential developments at Fernhill and Lakeside estate.
Hamilton increased numbers from six to eight in recent weeks, while Tauranga has four cranes, Wellington 10, and Dunedin has three at education facilities.
Auckland dominates the crane stakes with 72 cranes, or just over half of all cranes observed across seven centres.
Auckland's residential building involves the use of 43 cranes, an increase of five, after nine were removed and 15 erected for new residential and aged care projects.
Sky City's International Convention Centre is one of Auckland's largest construction sites with four tower cranes.
The Fletcher project is expected to create 1000 jobs during the construction phase and includes an adjacent laneway, expansion of underground car parking facilities and a new 300-room, 5-star hotel, due for completion in 2019.
Haines said the heated market meant there were resource issues and supply chain constraints among contractors who had most of their workload in place for the year.
"The lack of resources is increasing pricing in many areas and affecting delivery programmes and time scales particularly on projects that are poorly planned around forecast costs."
Combined with banks tightening up on some commercial and residential lending, there is an increased likelihood of some planned projects being delayed, deferred or shelved, Haines said.
Cranes have been installed at two Manson's commercial developments at 96 St Georges Bay Rd, Parnell, Sale St and 1 Broadway in Newmarket, and two cranes at Precinct Properties' $681 million Commercial Bay project.
Four new cranes are at the new Sky City hotel, and the Park Hyatt at the Wynyard Quarter site.
The education and civil sectors have seen a recent reduction in crane activity, but work in the pipeline of work remains significant, Haines said.
Across New Zealand, the residential sector is dominant with 49 cranes representing 37 per cent of all cranes commissioned on private residential and aged care housing projects.
- Stuff
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