It’s true that you get what you pay for. Cheap land, for example, can end up being quite expensive to build on if the soil quality is poor.

That was the situation facing Kiwi Bus Builders Ltd who, when they embarked on a project to build a new manufacturing plant, alongside their existing main facility, found there were no tender applicants able to provide an engineered solution to build on ground consisting of peat-based soil.

With years of industry experience behind them, Bevan Wood and the team at Trio Construction & Management Limited were able to land on a solution that was favourable to the client and the nature of the project. Bevan and his team proposed building a foundation that is similar to double ‘Tee’ beams on bridges. Essentially it was a set of seven ‘ribs’ that stabilised the ground and enabled a comprehensive, multi-purpose structure to be built on top of it.

In addition to solving the foundation issue, Bevan’s approach proved incredibly cost-effective, with the smart solution being completed for $83,000 – well under the $650,000 Kiwi Bus Builders had thought they might be up for. It meant that they could keep the cost of the entire project to $2.45 million, which was well within the budget.