Charmaine King says infrastructure has always been in her blood – she’s been riding in her dad’s truck and getting hands-on experience in an excavator since she was just nine-years old.
These days the 31-year-old Hamilton local doesn’t need supervision – instead she’s working on high-profile projects and even showing off her smooth digger skills to inspire the next generation.
On top of her day job operating heavy machinery for CB Civil, Charmaine has entered excavator operator competitions locally and abroad. She took out the Torpedo Challenge at the Civil Contractors New Zealand Waikato and Bay of Plenty Regional Excavator Operator Competition in June and came third overall in a similar competition in the state of Washington three years ago while travelling in America.
The Torpedo Challenge required precision excavator operating to slide five pipes between 150mm and 60mm diameter delicately into each other within a time limit and Charmaine demonstrated more precision and speed than others could muster to earn the accolade.
She says following in her father’s footsteps to work in the infrastructure industry was a natural choice for her. She gained her truck driving licence and Wheels Tracks and Rollers endorsement soon after leaving school, before diving into the industry at the age of 20.
“He kept pushing me and pushing me and here I am – it’s in my blood.”
Charmaine’s first projects in the industry included large-scale earthworks to extend the Christchurch Southern Motorway and demolishing houses and undertaking other work to help with reconstruction following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
One of her favourite projects was helping to install base isolators at Christchurch Art Gallery in 2014, to allow the building to absorb the shock of an extreme one-in-2,500-year earthquake by moving up to 600mm in any direction.
After spending three years travelling America in her late 20s, Charmaine returned to New Zealand in November, settling in Hamilton and starting work with CB Civil as an excavator operator. She is currently helping to build a 1.4km-long shared access path through Peacocke, Hamilton’s newest neighbourhood, involving 60,000 cubic metres of earthworks and the installation of two 66m single span bridges.
Charmaine says working with her close-knit team of three and having the opportunity to operate a range of machinery throughout the day are the two things she enjoys most about the job.
“We all know what we’re doing and everyone’s happy to help each other out – we’re a great team.”
She says her father “loves” her working in the industry and she’s keen to take on the challenge of next year’s Waikato and Bay of Plenty regional excavator competition to put the excavator operator skills he passed on to her to good use.
She says she encourages anyone thinking of exploring a new career to consider the civil construction sector.
“Get out there and give it a go – you never know, you might like it.”
