Taylors Contracting Co Ltd - Nelson, New Zealand

Posted by: admin on Mar 10, 2010

Poorman stream in Marsden Valley is a richer, more diverse and healthier home for fish and animals than it was before they started the job. It’s an unusual outcome and one project ecologist Tom Kroos of Fish & Wildlife Services says came about thanks to the earthworks contractors, Taylors Contracting, taking an active role in seeking ecologically sound methods to get the job done.” When you see an excavator driver stop, jump into the stream and rescue a fish you know it’s a special project. To be able to end up with a better stretch of stream than was there in the first place is really amazing and it’s due to all of us working together to get workable solutions.” Representing the client, Paul Adams of Electronet says it’s the first time they’ve been involved in a project where not only were the local fish life   relocated, but new habitats for them were constructed as well. “I think we all were surprised by the amount of fish life in that section of stream, with several species identified. We’ve preserved that and also enhanced the local ecosystem while protecting Transpower's asset. That’s a great outcome,” he says. Tom Kroos says an example of the flexible solutions he and Taylors came up with was the de-watering issue. “We realized there were pools and pockets that we could never get all the water out of, even though we did a fish salvage every day. So we decided to leave a minimal water flow so that some of the animals we couldn’t capture like the Koura – the crayfish and some of the really small whitebait,  still had a place to live.” Tom says that also meant that when the water came back on they didn’t have to wait for downstream colonisation or upstream migration from the estuary as there was already an environment there. Aaron Ewers Taylors’ project manager says initially they were sceptical about the amount of fish life in such a short stretch of creek. “But when the relocation took place and we could actually see how much life there was in the creek that went undetected we definitely felt the need to protect what was there. Our field staff adapted their plan of attack and kept Tom fully involved at almost every stage.” And they were also active in saving fish.  The excavator driver could be regularly seen splashing around in the shallow pools with a net that Tom had left catching any strays and relocating them to deeper water. Aaron Ewers says Taylors have always had a pro-active approach to looking after the environment. “If we don’t effectively manage the impact we have on the environment then we aren’t doing ourselves, our clients or the environment any favours. We’re happy to work with ecologists and between come up with workable solutions.” Tom Kroos believes you need to be on site to get those solutions. “When you get on site you can see what values we misssed, and you can achieve the goals different ways by implementing a different strategy. For example, we say maybe we can achieve cooler water temperatures by using a little less rock and maybe some more planting.  Then we can put some simple little rock structures in the creek bed itself while it’s dry, that’s what we did and that’s why we ended up with something better than what was there to begin with.”  The ecologist – contractor relationship is a key factor in getting this outcome and it wasn’t just a one-way street. Tom Kroos: “From my point of view to have the contractor explain – ‘look we understand what you’re trying to achieve but from our point of view that’s not going to work. So how about we do it this way? ‘ was really helpful. In my experience you can get win-win situations at no additional cost, it’s about the way that we do it. Aaron Ewers is also proud of the project. “It’s been a personally gratifying project for me and all the Taylors guys involved to know that not only can we work to keep a client satisfied they are getting value for money ,but we can also protect the local wildlife and provide a habitat that was better than when we arrived. “Enhancing our environment is something that’s badly needed. In the Moutere ecological district  where the substation is located,  98.6 % of all the original wetland that was here in 1840 has been lost. Tom Kroos says that’s why projects like this one are so important.“I think that any little bit we can do to try to restore some of this wetland is vitally important. It’s not fast, but if we think about each project with the care we’ve done on this one, I think we can  very, very slowly  begin to change that disgusting statistic and very, very slowly begin to turn things back.”