The Ashburton District Council has awarded the district's 2020-25 road maintenance & operations contract and 2020-22 road resurfacing contract after robust tender and selection processes.

The $30 million road maintenance contract has been awarded to HEB Construction, and incumbent Ashburton Contracting Ltd (ACL) has secured the two-year road resurfacing contract worth $6 million.

HEB Construction will be responsible for all aspects of maintaining both sealed and unsealed roads across the district's 2,600km network including signage, road markings, drainage and bridges. The contract will start on 1 December.

Council Infrastructure Services Committee Chair, Stuart Wilson says HEB Construction made a compelling bid for the maintenance of Mid Canterbury's roads and the Council is looking forward to working with their experienced team.

"Our rural roading network is one of the largest in the country and this infrastructure is critically important for keeping our residents and economy moving.

"On behalf of the Council and our residents, I would also like to acknowledge and thank our incumbent contractor, Fulton Hogan for their long-standing service to our district."

HEB Construction currently maintains local roads across New Zealand including in Selwyn, Christchurch, Marlborough, Waikato and Auckland.

The contractor will establish a base in Ashburton and will use several local businesses as subcontractors.

HEB Construction General Manager Civils & Maintenance, David Simpson says the team are excited to take up stewardship of the district's roads.

"As a national maintenance provider, HEB Construction are committed to the safety and growth of our regions. We are delighted to begin working with the Council, iwi and the community to look after this vital infrastructure. It's important to us that residents and visitors experience much more than just a journey - we want them to feel meaningfully connected to the region and our work, so we are really looking forward to delivering this crucial programme."

ACL have retained management of the district's road surfacing work. The local contractor will be responsible for investigating and delivering seal design, pre-seal treatment, resurfacing and pavement markings of an expected 174.7km of road over the next two years.

Councillor Wilson says, "We are very pleased to award this contract to a company who have long served our district with local knowledge and expertise."

ACL Chief Executive, Gary Casey was thrilled with today's announcement.

"Our team have established ourselves as a reliable provider of civil construction services to the Ashburton community and it's an honour to have the opportunity to continue delivering quality roading infrastructure for the district. This contract gives our local staff good security of work over the next two years."

The road resurfacing contract will begin on 1 November.

Three tenders were received for each of the contracts.​