In article <***@4ax.com>, Rich80105
@hotmail.com says...
Post by Rich80105On Sun, 23 Jun 2024 15:42:05 +1200, David Goodwin
Post by David GoodwinPost by CrashPost by Gordonhttps://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350319784/country-broken-tough-questions-emerge-over-aratere-grounding
It is a real problem when the country does not have enough money to keep up
the maintaince on the Country's infrastructure.
It is a case of the Governmet's of the past simply not planning and spending
enough on the Country's infrastructure. Surely there is data around which
says that roads, ferries, and other parts of the intrastructure says that
they need to be replaced after x years of use.
Private cars have WOF checks to see that all is well and if not they are
recycled or scrapped.
Tax cuts are nice to have, but then so is a country with infrastructure
which is not fit for purpose.
The article points out a number of infrastructure issues but is also
factually incorrect in some areas. Kiwirail's IREX project, based on
where the costs lay, was an upgrade to Port facilities with 2 new
ferries bought on the side. It was a program to buy new ferries in
name only because the new ferries could not be berthed at existing
port facilities.
come up with a detailed plan on maintenance required to the existing
fleet for the next 10 years - and come up with a plan to replace
existing ferries with newer (or new) ferries that can be berthed at
existing port facilities. Upgrades to port facilities are not needed
in this contact and this is where most of the cost of IREX lay.
Problem is KiwiRail wasn't upgrading the port facilities for fun. The
port facilities were being replaced because what's there now is 60+
years old, not earthquake safe and apparently approaching end of life.
So separating ordering of the ferries from the port infrastructure
doesn't get us out of this cost - it just lets us kick the can down the
road a little while until the project is no doubt even more expensive
and the need more desperate. Pretty much our standard approach to
infrastructure.
Post by CrashIn respect of Transpower and the Northland outage the time to act is
after the inquiries have been completed (as a matter of urgency).
In respect of roading infrastructure there are already some
initiatives being undertaken by the Government.
Roading seems to be the one form of infrastructure that does reliably
get investment whether it makes economic sense or not, so not too much
to worry about there really.
The media had reported that two ships were ordered by the previous
government, but cancelled by the current government. The fault that
occurred could have been much worse, but there can I believe be
reasonable confidence that the current ship will last a year or so
more - but it would probably be good if another was ordered - a shame
that so much money will have been wasted on canceling a previous
order.
At the same time, there have from time to time been discussions about
creating a new terminal on the coast north of Kaikoura - possibly
somewhere in Cloudy Bay or Clifford Bay. It would be nearer to
Christchurch and Blenheim, and importantly take a much shorter time at
sea, but would require new wharf facilities. The local MP has a fairly
small majority however, so don't expect any open thinking at this
stage . . .
From what I've read it isn't the south island terminal thats the
difficult or expensive one, though it is the one KiwiRail claims is
closer to end of life.
The Wellington end is where all the expense has been. Apparently there
are significant earthquake hazards where they're trying to build the
terminal, and they've had to raise the level of the site by 1m too. This
is whats lead to the costs being so high.
And the earthquake hazards of the current location are apparently part
of the reason why KiwiRail chose not to build there in the first place.
They were originally going to build the new terminal at Kings Wharf and
this is what the original costs were all based on. But *everyone*
complained and eventually KiwiRail gave up and in December 2020 decided
to build the Wellington terminal at Kaiwharawhara instead.