On February 1, main contractor Blakely Construction started on the first phase of eight phases of the $3.7million development.
Project manager Daniel Williams said phases two, four and three were complete, the first phase was almost finished and work had started on the fifth, sixth and seventh phases of the stage three development from Bullock Creek to the Wanaka Marina.
Features of the development included restoration and development of native vegetation, a shared pathway for pedestrians and cyclists that connected Wanaka’s town centre with the marina, a boardwalk along the lake’s edge and signage highlighting of the area’s significance to Kai Tahu, and details of native plant and animal life found nearby.
Mr Williams was part of the tendering process and said protecting the environment and the lake’s grebe population were the "two big drivers" of the project.
"We had to work out how much sawdust would actually be produced by the job and we worked out from each cut there would be around a 10-20 cubes of sawdust which ... would be like tipping three truckloads of sawdust into the lake.
Weather has been another challenge during construction.
"Normally on a construction site wet weather makes the ground a bit wet and the staff get a bit wet and cold but on this project the lake levels come up and prevent you from working on certain aspects of the project, particularly the boardwalk."
As well as the weather construction of the boardwalk had to wait for the grebes breeding season to finish in late March.
"That dictated when we could go on to the shoreline and pile but the project will be finished before the breeding season started again," Mr Williams said.
Community board chairman Barry Bruce called the progress "amazing".
"The quality of the workmanship is superb it is going to turn one of the most under-utilised parts of the lake shore into one of the best and most utilised."
Mr Williams said the project was on track to finish in August.
