FIBRE LINK INSTALLATION -
TE ANAU TO MILFORD

Location: Te Anau to Milford

Service: Optic Fibre Link Installation

Date started: November 2021

Date completed: May 2023

Challenges

Working in a National Park is highly restricted, and only materials sourced within the National Park can be used for backfilling.

On-site communication is limited, so all materials must come from Te Anau.

The road to Milford is heavily trafficked by tourists, including buses, vans, and single cars, as they travel to Milford for the day.

The weather in this area is known for being some of New Zealand's harshest, with high rainfall and low temperatures. Avalanche risk in this area is also very high during spring weather.

Solution

For this undertaking, Marais Laying NZ proposed utilising their experienced team, which had previously completed the Haast to Lake Hawea project.

We employed three types of methodologies for the project:

Mole plough in the berm
Rock saw trench in the berm
Rock saw trencher in the road

To efficiently manage the workload, we deployed up to five crews working concurrently along the road, from trench opening to backfilling, and finally road reinstatement.

Traffic management was particularly intensive during the summer period. However, we ensured that we never exceeded the 30-minute delay limit from the standard two-hour journey between Te Anau and Milford. These time constraints were established to accommodate bus operators and ferry schedules in Milford.