Covid-19: Construction industry seeks MIQ quota to cut delays in bringing in staff

Wednesday, 3 March 2021

In July 2020, The CRL project had reached the halfway point, on time and on budget

Two major Auckland construction projects are part of an industry push to secure a fixed quota of places in managed isolation (MIQ) hotels as they struggle to bring in specialist staff critical to progress.

The $4.5 billion City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel project said it took an average of 100 days to navigate visa and MIQ processes for each of the 200 specialists it brought in under Covid-19 restrictions in 2020.

The council-government joint venture said it currently has 25 foreign specialists who need to return to their homes temporarily, but experience showed it could take two months of paperwork to get them back.

A “Construction Accord” is being negotiated with the government that would not necessarily prioritise skilled workers over other arrivals, but give certainty as to when critical specialists would arrive.

A view of the Mt Eden site of the City Rail Link where the tunnel portal is being prepared.

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Both CRL and Watercare’s $1.2 billion Central Interceptor project are preparing to launch imported tunnel boring machines on their sites, and CRL said delayed completion could cost $1 million a day.

An initial proposal for the construction industry to organise its own MIQ facility failed when the government said the stumbling block was the lack of public sector staff to run it.

Michele Invernizzi of the Ghella Abergeldie joint venture with the tunnel boring machine being assembled for Watercare's $1.2b 13km Central Interceptor wastewater tunnel.

“That’s the choke point, it’s not getting the rooms, they can do that, but they have a finite number of health and defence workers,” CRL Limited chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney said.

Typical of the challenges posed by difficulties in bringing in specialists is the job of positioning the giant Chinese-built tunnel boring machine (TBM) so it can start boring the 3.5km long twin rail tunnels.

“In a perfect world we would have brought in a crew from Sydney, where there is a massive 100-wheeled trailer that is self-propelled and articulated,” Sweeney said.

“We can’t get those people into New Zealand, so we have to make do with whatever trucks and trailers we can find.

“It’s a lot less established approach, so people are being very resourceful about how to carry this very heavy piece of equipment down the road and into place.”

Sean Sweeney, right, is the chief executive of City Rail Link Ltd.

Much of the expertise that had to be imported related to tunnelling, mining, and the installation of rail systems.

The Central Interceptor will build the country’s longest wastewater tunnel 13 kilometres across Auckland.

Construction work in 2018 on the City Rail Link beneath the former Chief Post Office, now Britomart Train Station.

It has an Italian joint venture partner doing the mining and tunnelling work.

“In conjunction with the contractor we have reviewed the project estimates of MIQ spaces required this year, with a focus on highlighting upcoming urgent requirements,” a report to Watercare’s board said.

“Resourcing issues due to offshore travel restrictions and significant local competition in the labour market continue to present risks and challenges to the project,” Watercare said.

“We’re trying to start conversation [with the government] to say ‘could we have a quota and how big would it be’,” Sweeney said.

“We are getting the people at the moment, but every one is an individual negotiation process and if we had a quota then the argument is the heavy construction sector could manage that amongst itself – it’s about certainty and planning.

“If I knew at CRL that I could get eight workers through in July, and another eight in August and in September, that might mean the [contractor] Link Alliance isn’t happy, but it can plan for it.”

Sweeney said it would not be possible to quantify the end impact on CRL, as every hurdle produced a workaround or a change in sequence of work.

Where that ended up might not be known until at least the end of the year, or the 2024 end of the project.

CRL Limited made an initial proposal to the government in December and is about to re-submit a refined paper, with more input from the major construction sector, in the next weeks.

In the meantime, Sweeney said construction of the three new underground station “cabins” is pushing ahead, with the pouring of concrete walls now at its peak and expected to continue all year at that level.

City Rail Link is the country’s biggest single transport project and due to open in 2024, while the Central Interceptor is expected to be finished in 2025.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins have been approached for comment.