Land Development Engineering

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  • 1.  IPWEA NZ E-NEWS - JOIN THE DISCUSSION - Shared Accessway Details

    Posted 11-12-2019 09:15
    As advertised in the latest edition of  IPWEA NZ e-news, the LDEG Committee would like to know. . . 

    What are your standards for shared access ways:
    • Do you require reinforcing if it serves a certain number of dwellings?
    • How many dwellings do you allow before a road is required?
    • Must you install a concrete access way or is asphalt acceptable? 
    • What widths do you require?
    • Do you require kerb and channel?
    • What do you do in rural situations?
    • How do you treat stormwater?
    Join our discussion by commenting below on your local standards for constructing shared access ways. We are keen to hear how this varies across the country and want to encourage everyone to learn from each other.

    Happy posting,
    Your friendly LDEG Committee

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    Clare Hamilton
    LDEG Committee Member
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  • 2.  RE: IPWEA NZ E-NEWS - JOIN THE DISCUSSION - Shared Accessway Details

    Posted 16-12-2019 10:07
    ​Hi Clare
    Comments on your questions from Taupo District, in order...
    1. No reinforcing as long as base preparation meeting minimum standards for even compaction and thickness is complying. Pre-pour inspection, beam and impact test required.
    2. Residential environment - 9 lots. Rural environment 12 lots before public road status is required - unless specifically varied by consent with a proper management and funding mechanism.
    3. Either surfacing is acceptable.
    4. Widths varies depending on environment and number of users as per table in our District Plan and Code of Practice. e.g. Residential environment up to 3 users legal width of 3.5m and formation 2.75m.
    5. Kerbs or nib-kerbs are required for AC edge support. Stormwater runoff collection is required.
    6. Up to 3 users can be metal surface on 3m wide formation, as long as gradients are gentle (generally under 6%). Sealed vehicle entrances within road reserve. Chip seal for more than 3 users. Public road guideline after 12 users.
    7. Soakage generally in residential areas wherever practical. Rural areas runoff to land, without causing nuisance.
    Regards, Roger Stokes; Development Engineer.
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  • 3.  RE: IPWEA NZ E-NEWS - JOIN THE DISCUSSION - Shared Accessway Details

    Posted 19-12-2019 14:58
    Hi Clare,
    Worth mentioning that future ROW maintenance costs allocation will be determined by the Property Law act. Therefore the design and standard of construction should bear in mind that the owners will be paying for future repairs. Years ago many Councils ditched sealed pavement for concrete as owners were not prepared to do maintenance reseals, resulting in failure and endless complaints to Council. However the concrete must be done to a high standard as replacement or repairs is expensive. If you accept minimum pavement design, as most will foolishly do, means maximum quality control so reducing likelyhood of comeback on the 224c certifying engineer.
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  • 4.  RE: IPWEA NZ E-NEWS - JOIN THE DISCUSSION - Shared Accessway Details

    Posted 06-01-2020 09:50

    Hi Clare, The information responses from Whanganui District Council for the standards for shared access ways are as follows:

    • Reinforcing is only required where the designer of the right of way determines that it is necessary. The design guideline used by the Whanganui District Council is NZS4404:2010.
    • Six dwellings are allowed to access a private access way before it needs to be vested as a road. However under certain circumstances the Council will adopt a level of discretion to allow for appropriate infill where servicing constraints exist that limit the servicing width available.
    • We only require that the surface is sealed. Concrete, Chip Seal, Asphalt and Pavers are all acceptable surfacing options for private access ways.
    • The width requirements are those set out in NZS4404:2010. Again the Council does apply discretion in certain circumstances for appropriate infill proposals.
    • Kerb and channel is not essential for an access way, but drainage provisions must be provided for.
    • The rules of NZS4404:2010 are applied in rural situations, except for the requirement for the pavement to be sealed. The provision of utility services is dependent upon those available, however the provision of these is not required of the developer prior to s224 certification.
    • Stormwater – drainage provisions must be made within the access way for the control of Stormwater and discharges must be managed so as not to have an adverse effect on adjacent lots. Low impact design is preferable and where possible soakage is favoured. Certain Stormwater discharges may trigger implications under the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017. For the purpose of answering all definitions of "treat" I can confirm that Stormwater quality is controlled by the Regional Council in our District.
    Miscellaneous comments:

    1. The requirements for access way widths as required by NZS4404:2010 conflicts with the requirements of SNZ PAS 4509:2008 (New Zealand Fire Service Firefighting Water Supplies Code of Practice). The later has greater width requirements for pavement construction. We encounter this issue as the later standard is included within provisions of our District Plan. The issue is predominantly one experienced within our rural zones.
    2. Our local rules regarding rural access ways not requiring sealing can be problematic for smaller scale access ways serviced from sealed roads close to town. Generally these are lifestyle areas with smaller lot sizes (5,000m2). I am interested to hear how others manage rural access way pavements and if sealing is mandatory.
    3. Dwelling construction damage to the access ways is a common issue and often developers will defer final surfacing until after dwellings are built (Works where developer and builder are the same), however due to District Plan rules a resource consent is necessary to enable multiple dwellings to be constructed on one lot. Conjoining land use and subdivision resource consents works well for addressing this matter.
    4. Access way Design, Construction and Supervision requires the issuing of Schedule 1a, 1b and 1c certificates prior to s224. This recent addition to our District Plan requirements (Through the Land Development and Sub Division Engineering Document – Supplement to NZS4404:2010) has dramatically improved the quality of access way construction within our District. What do others do in terms of inspections and monitoring of private access ways? How do you ensure that the standards of construction are achieved?
    5. Retrospective testing of existing use situations has been problematic in the past. Often flexible pavements can be easily tested to determine compliance with construction standards. Concrete pavements can be somewhat more difficult/expensive. (This situation arises when additional dwellings are added to an existing access way.
    6. Increased interest in infill opportunities has created a situation where an existing compliant access way may have an additional dwelling proposed that now makes the access way non-compliant. In such situations an assessment of the effects has been undertaken and viewed favourably only when the effects are less than minor. I'm interested to hear how others handle this situation (This is a bit of a cross over between planning and engineering)
    Damien Wood: Development Engineer

     


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