Pumping, Water Treatment & Dust Suppression at Ōtaki to North of Levin: Te Pae o Tararua The Project

Ōtaki to North of Levin: Te Pae o Tararua is one of New Zealand's original Roads of National Significance, currently underway. Delivered by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency in partnership with iwi partners Muaūpoko Tribal Authority and local hapū of Ngāti Raukawa, the project will deliver 24km of new four-lane expressway along State Highway 1, connecting Ōtaki to north of Levin and completing the Wellington Northern Corridor.

Main construction got underway in October 2025 and is expected to be complete in late 2029. The project is being delivered across two alliance sections: the southern section by Downer, McConnell Dowell, Beca and Tonkin+Taylor; and the northern section by Fulton Hogan, HEB, WSP and Aurecon.

Condor is proud to be supporting the Ō2NL project with pumping, water treatment, and dust suppression solutions across the active construction corridor.

The Challenge

A 24km highway corridor passing through rural Horowhenua is not a simple site. Early works have included major earthworks, stormwater and drainage preparation, stream diversions, and vegetation clearance - all of which generate significant demands for water management and dust control.

With the project traversing farmland, wetlands, and waterways, the environmental stakes are high. Groundwater encountered during earthworks and trench excavation must be managed and treated before discharge. At the same time, the scale of dry earthworks across the corridor creates dust that needs to be actively suppressed to protect air quality and neighbouring properties.

The Solution: Pumps, Water Treatment & Water Carts

Condor is supporting the project with three complementary solutions:

Pumps: reliable dewatering, managing groundwater encountered during earthworks, drainage preparation, and trench excavation. Keeping the excavation workable so the build can keep moving.

Condor XXL Water Treatment Systems: groundwater and site runoff passes through the XXL before discharge, ensuring every litre meets strict environmental consent conditions. The XXL's lamella clarifier technology is purpose-built for the variable water quality encountered on large earthworks sites, delivering consistently compliant discharge even as conditions change across the site.

Water Carts: dust suppression across the active construction zone. With large-scale earthworks moving significant volumes of soil across a 24km corridor, proactive dust management is essential, for neighbouring landowners, for the communities living along the route, and for the project's environmental compliance obligations.

Environmental Compliance at Scale

A project the size of Ō2NL brings environmental responsibilities to match and the alliance teams have a clear obligation to protect the surroundings throughout construction.

For Condor, that means equipment that performs consistently regardless of where it's deployed, and regardless of what site conditions throw at it. From dewatering to dust suppression, our role on Ō2NL is about making sure a project of this scale leaves as light a footprint as possible on the landscape it moves through.

We're proud to support the alliance teams delivering this generational piece of infrastructure - and to do so in a way that honours the environment and communities along the route.