Taylor River dredging underway – Swampy in action

Dredging work is underway to improve the flood carrying capacity of the Taylor River near Blenheim’s town center, Marlborough District Council said.

“The purpose-built amphibious excavator navigated its way down the river yesterday which was quite a sight to see. It was evident from how high the excavator was sitting in the river the extent of the silt that has built up in the river channel over previous flood events,” Council’s Rivers and Drainage Engineering Manager, Andy White, said.

Access to the reach of the river between the Alfred Street bridge and the SH1/rail bridge being dredged presented a unique problem that required contractors Gill Construction and Council to think “outside the box” for a novel but sustainable solution to the ongoing issue of sediment deposition at this location, Mr White said.

“In March 2025, we collectively settled upon the use of an amphibious excavator but sourcing a machine capable of squeezing beneath the various road bridges proved a challenge. After procuring a machine in Australia and shipping to New Zealand, the team at Gill’s have worked around the clock to refurbish, refit and upgrade the new machine now affectionately known as ‘Swampy’ for the works to be completed before February 1,” Mr. White said.

“Swampy is testament to the innovation our Rivers team and local contractors are employing to provide sustainable, affordable solutions to river and flood risk issues that the community have been seeking for some time.”

The machine will operate within the river channel, loading silt into small trucks on the northern side. A 150m stretch of the river will be dredged between the Alfred Street bridge and the road/rail bridge throughout January with tidy-up works to be completed by March.

Dredging of the Taylor River was approved in Council’s Long Term Plan with priority given to the section downstream of the road/rail bridge to ensure the flood carrying capacity of the river. This has been done in two phases with the first phase completed ahead of the June 2025 weather event.

This work now continues with the current dredging, the Council concluded.