WT were appointed as Quantity Surveyors for both the Waltham Mechanical Hub in Christchurch and the Hillside Workshops Redevelopment in Dunedin in 2021, as part of KiwiRail’s wider Mechanical Facilities Programme. These projects modernise and strengthen KiwiRail’s South Island mechanical operations, improving efficiency, sustainability, and long-term resilience.
At Waltham, a new 9,400 m2 facility was built to become the South Island’s main locomotive, passenger carriage, and wagon maintenance hub. The development consolidated Addington, Middleton, and Waltham into a single modern site, housing 25 maintenance berths, specialist rail equipment, and new office space for support staff. Designed to service KiwiRail’s incoming low-emission locomotive fleet, the hub will play a central role in supporting a more reliable and sustainable rail network.
At Hillside, the historic South Dunedin workshops have been completely redeveloped, and 90% of demolition materials were recycled. Heritage buildings were strengthened and repurposed, restoring the site’s place at the heart of New Zealand’s rail industry. The new mechanical workshop supports wagon assembly and the maintenance and overhaul of locomotives and rolling stock, while creating new jobs and improving capability across the South Island. The project also delivered new shared offices, workshops, heavy lift jacks, a traverser, and a redeveloped rail yard with a much-improved frontage on Hillside Road.
These two projects represent major progress in delivering a stronger, more resilient South Island rail network.
Services provided
WT provided full QS services including:
- Pre-contract estimating, cost planning, and value engineering
- Procurement advice to support tendering and contract negotiation
- Post-contract quantity surveying including payment recommendations, variation assessments, and final account agreement
- Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA)
- Funding and financial reporting across multiple funding streams, ensuring accurate cost tracking and reporting to KiwiRail’s finance team
- Cost monitoring and reporting to support informed decision-making and maintain programme and budget alignment
Challenges
From the outset, budget constraints required extensive value engineering and redesign. WT worked closely with KiwiRail to provide accurate estimating, procurement advice, and cost control that maintained the programme and managed financial risk.
Procurement timelines had to align with ongoing design development while staying within revised budgets. WT managed this through strategic procurement methods that minimised risk and optimised cost efficiency.
With multiple simultaneous contracts for demolition, site clearance, and new construction, careful coordination was essential. WT’s regular meeting attendance and detailed design knowledge ensured that all risks were captured and managed appropriately.
The project’s funding structure involved several streams that had to be tracked and reported separately. WT worked with KiwiRail’s finance team to tailor reporting templates to allow for cost tracking on a granular level, improving control and decision-making.
Risk management was a continual focus due to the project’s scale, complexity, and programme. WT implemented quarterly Quantitative Risk Assessments integrated with KiwiRail’s live systems, allowing for accurate and proactive risk tracking.
Because the client and design teams were based in different locations across New Zealand, digital collaboration tools such as Geodocs, Revizo, and 3D BIM, along with webcams, were used to enable real-time updates and improve communication between stakeholders.
Value added
WT was initially engaged for a peer review but went on to provide full QS services as the project evolved. The team was responsible for negotiating with contractors to ensure value for money, leading the tender process based on a revised design, and working with the client and contractor to deliver a more efficient scheme that maintained the facility’s appearance and operational performance. WT’s involvement ensured strong financial control, effective cost management, and clear alignment between design, delivery, and budget.
