There has been a definite shift in Ōpōtiki's mood as several big projects begin to come together at once.

Ōpōtiki mayor Lyn Riesterer said excitement was building in the town as the walls on its long-awaited multi-million-dollar harbour were beginning to take shape.

"Last week we shared a couple of photos of the walls that have started to take shape out at the new harbour entrance and the feedback has been incredibly positive," Riesterer said.

"While works have been happening out at the end of Snell Rd since last year, it felt like this was a very exciting milestone to acknowledge. It also gave a sense of the scale of the build which I think was also exciting."

HEB Construction is building the harbour, which will unlock opportunities for Ōpōtiki like capitalising on existing aquaculture and enabling more to occur.

When complete it will allow boats to cross the bar in almost all conditions.

It was funded through the Provincial Growth Fund after years of work by the Opotiki District Council.

"There has been a definite shift in Ōpōtiki and things like seeing such a large piece of infrastructure taking shape helps us realise that growth and change is happening," Riesterer said.

"There is so much going on in the district – not just council activity or PGF-funded activity but across the board. Confidence is encouraging new growth and exciting opportunities, and it shows."

While the Ōpōtiki community begins to get excited about the harbour, many locals are already enjoying some of the opportunities and benefits expected from the redevelopment.

There are about 25 people on the ground at the harbour construction site, of which around half have been hired directly from Ōpōtiki, including three taken on board with apprenticeships.

"Projects like this generate opportunities for local employment and training alongside the many huge long-term economic benefits for the area," HEB Construction chief executive Mark Evans said.

For those on site it's simply business as usual while they get on with the day-to-day work of the construction.

HEB Construction project manager David Wyeth said that much of the satisfaction for the site team came from overcoming the day-to-day issues and then seeing their labours coming to fruition over time.

Wyeth said they would be working to build the eastern breakwater, casually known as the harbour wall, for the next month before beginning work on the southern end of the western breakwater for two months before reverting back to the eastern wall.

It will take around 10 months to build each breakwater.

It's a big job with the team having to dig down about 3m to 6m before building up the core of the breakwater with rock.

They will then line the core with sheet pile, larger rock and finally place precast hanbar units on top of that. In July, 2600 tonnes of sheet pile will be arriving at the Tauranga port, which will then be trucked to the Ōpōtiki Harbour site – around 120 truckloads.

The top of the breakwater will be 10m wide when complete.

The team will also have to close the existing river mouth and dredge the area between the two breakwaters to allow larger vessels entry. They will remove more than 600,000 cubic metres of material.

"It is a big project," Wyeth said.

"It will be exciting to see it all come together as the project nears completion."

Source: Rotorua Daily Post