Photos by Charles Nepia

THE $30 million reconstruction of Vuna Wharf in Nuku'alofa is on track to be completed in a year's time by January 2012, according to Charles Nepia the Project Engineer for the Nuku'alofa Reconstruction Project.

He told Matangi Tonga Online on December 15 that the construction work began on site in September this year after three months of mobilization, with the foundation work currently being carried out including the piling works for the wharf approach.

The wharf is an open-piled concrete structure and the piles are driven to an approximate depth of 18 to 25m with a designated embedment into the target rock strata.

As piles are driven, a temporary staging platform will be erected on top of the driven piles enabling the piling rig and equipment to work over the water and extend along the position of the wharf design setout.

"Basically the piling equipment will start to move out over the water, with the wharf being constructed behind it," he said.

The next phases after piling would be the reinforcement-concrete to pile casings currently done for the construction of wharf approach.

In January they will build the mooring dolphins and construction of precast concrete elements like beams and deck for the main wharf structure; and then the construction of main deck structure would start in February 2011.

Cruise ships

Charles said the reconstruction project is aimed at providing cruise ships berths.

The main contractor is the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), with Fletcher Construction as wharf sub contractor and Beca International as the wharf design engineer.

He said over 60 workers are employed on the project, most of them are locals, and five New Zealanders.

In June this year, the Prime Minister Hon Dr Feleti Sevele announced the Vuna Wharf project and expected it would attract dozens of cruise ships a year into Nuku'alofa.

He said that when the new wharf facility comes into operation at the beginning of 2012 it could attract 66 to 100 cruise ships a year to Nuku'alofa.