Concrete signs of progress

Concrete trucks were a common sight on West Otago roads this week as a two-day concrete-pouring operation was carried out at the site of the new West Otago Health Centre.

West Otago Health Trust chairman Allister Body said work was progressing well at the Tapanui site as foundation work finished last week, and concrete-pouring began on Monday, finishing on Wednesday.

In January, two Dunedin businesses - Cook Brothers Construction and Oakley Gray Architects - won the $2.4 million contract to build the centre.

Since then, the project budget had been capped at $2.85 million due to alterations as part of the design process, Mr Body said.

Project manager Glenn Forrester, of Cook Brothers Construction, said excavation work started on September 17 and the whole project was expected to take 42 weeks.