28 April – 26 May, 2017
Alan Wood Reserve, Methuen Rd Lookout
New Windsor

Blockhouse Bay photographer Dianne Smith has been documenting the construction of the Waterview Connection since January 2013. As construction comes to an end she’s presenting an outdoor exhibition featuring a small selection of these images in the newly replanted Alan Wood Reserve beside the Methuen Rd Lookout.

“Initially I just wanted to capture the action of the wheel wash, but the more I learned about the project the more I realised how significant the project was,” says Dianne.  “I could see that linking these two major motorways would provide so much for the local community and wider Auckland.”

Documenting the construction has been a serious undertaking with four years of almost daily site visits.  “I spend my days peering through fencing, standing on over-bridges, safely and respectfully watching from the sidelines,” she says.

She now has over 100,000 images spanning from the Southern Approach in Mt Roskill to the Northern Approach in Waterview. Many of the photographs were taken from vantage points in the parks along Oakley Creek and Richardson Road as well as from the official viewing stations and site tours.

Dianne has photographed everything, from the assembly of tunnel boring machine Alice, the relocation of cranes and buildings, to the road marking, and the planting that is part of the park restoration.

Most importantly she’s documented the many men and women working on the site as they go about their labours. Her photographs celebrate these workers “who have dug every hole, hammered every nail and operated the machinery with skill and pride in their craft on this significant undertaking.”