New town soon to be set in concrete

This week, one of the largest crane’s ever to be seen in the region was moved on site to begin construction. The 200-ton capacity crawler crane will be used to manoeuvre almost a kilometre of concrete tilt-slab panels into place on the SH6 site, adjacent to the Queenstown Events Centre. Weighing 80 tonne and measuring 20m long by 5m wide, the panels are also likely to be the largest ever poured in Queenstown.

The foundations will form part of an extensive underground car park, servicing the new urban centre on Frankton Flats. Five Mile, which will eventually house up to 10,000 people, will offer a range of residential and visitor accommodation, boutique and large-scale retail, education institutions, commercial quarters, and outdoor spaces.

Five Mile chief executive Dave Henderson says laying the foundation is a significant milestone in the construction of Five Mile, which has taken more than 15 years to plan.

Preparation work for stage one was completed last month, and included excavation of building foundations and an extensive underground car park. About 250,000 cubic meters of soil has been removed from the Five Mile site since February.

Creating the foundation and basement walls of the first stage began this week, and will take approximately 120 days to complete. Development of the aboveground area of the town is also progressing, with designs for Five Mile’s first building lodged for consent in June. The building – one of 180 being designed for the new town’s first stage – is a large-scale, mixed-use development, incorporating Queenstown’s largest supermarket, several specialty shops and accommodation.