New Dunedin Hospital – Site Movements May 2023

Work on New Dunedin Hospital site is moving along, with Ceres undertaking excavation works for the footprint of the planned Inpatient building this week.

Monique Fouwler, Director – Delivery, Infrastructure and Investment, Te Whatu Ora, says the 280-tonne crawler crane is currently in operation and a mat of recycled concrete from the Cadbury building demolition is being constructed in place of the freshly excavated soil, in order to provide a working platform for the piling rig later in the year.

The extensive excavation process on the Inpatient site is getting the team of archaeologists excited as they work to preserve and identify any archaeological findings amongst the mud and rubble.

Monique Fouwler said, “The Outpatient site sits above a section of town that was densely occupied by cottages and residential dwellings, whereas the Inpatient building site was used for more industrial purposes.”

“We know there was a foundry, a chocolate factory and sawmills located on the Inpatient building site, so we can expect to uncover some significant historical artefacts in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to sharing what has unearthed on the site once the team from Underground Overground Archaeology have completed their work.”

An archaeological authority from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is required for any instance where there is cause to suspect a recorded or unrecorded archaeological site may be affected. The authority for the New Dunedin Hospital project requires archaeological monitoring and recording to be carried out. A report documenting the work of our archeologists and its contribution to our understanding of the history of Aotearoa will be submitted to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga at the end of the archaeological work.

ENDS