Rebuilding Eastland Port’s Wharf 7

After years in the planning, work will start soon on one of the most significant parts of Eastland Port’s Twin Berth project.

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Eastland Port is located in Gisborne, Tairāwhiti.

The rebuild of Wharf 7 was granted resource consent in December 2020. It’s due to begin late March 2022 and will take around 18 months to complete.

The cost is an estimated $60 million.

“This is a major milestone for the port and the region,” said Eastland Group chief operating officer regional infrastructure, Andrew Gaddum.

“The original wharf was built in the 1960s and needs replacing. By September 2023, we will have demolished and rebuilt Wharf 7 to create a vital and resilient lifeline asset that will support Tairāwhiti’s growing exports.

“It will be strong enough to accommodate the three new mobile harbour cranes that arrived recently, and will be capable of withstanding a one-in-2500-year earthquake event, providing significant regional resilience in the event of a natural disaster.”

Following a competitive tender process, infrastructure construction specialists McConnell Dowell were awarded the contract for Wharf 7. 

A range of sub-contractors from Tairāwhiti will be used throughout the rebuild.

Marty Bayley, Eastland Port’s infrastructure manager, is overseeing the project.

The Wharf 7 rebuild, along with upgrading the slipway, is Stage 1 of the Twin Berth project.

The port team continues to develop plans for Stage 2, which would allow two handymax vessels (one 200m and one 185m long) to be able to berth on Wharves 7 and 8 at once.

Resource consent applications for Stage 2 will be submitted in the next few months.