Aotea Station newsletter - December 2020

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22 December 2020

Artist's impression of one of the Victoria Street West station entrances, looking down to Queen Street. Aotea Station is 350m long and will have three public entrances.

Kia ora koutou

Meri Kirihimete me te Tau Hou Hari!

We wish our neighbours a joyful holiday season and hope you all enjoy the festive break. We also acknowledge those who are continuing to work throughout. Thank you for your support, understanding, and willingness to work alongside us, particularly during such a challenging and disruptive year.

The Aotea Station office will shut down from 5pm Wednesday 23 December 2020 to 6am Tuesday 5 January 2021. A small site team will however be continuing with construction activities on 24, 29, 30, and 31 December.

If you have any questions throughout the holiday period, as always please email aotea@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (275 8255) and press option 3.

We look forward to seeing you in 2021. If you haven't already, consider signing up for a free Aotea Station public site tour! It's a great way to meet the team and learn more about what we are doing.

Nāku iti noa, nā

The Aotea Station team

This week we are distributing Christmas cookies to our neighbours, procured by the Link Alliance from local cafe Peppers. We are trying to reach everyone but please let us know if you haven't received yours yet and we will do our best!

Chlöe Swarbrick MP visits Aotea Station

This morning our new local MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, toured Link Alliance sites including Aotea Station. Chlöe was elected as MP for Auckland Central in October this year. The tour covered the entire length of Aotea Station from Mayoral Drive to Wyndham Street, and included an overview of key construction milestones, sustainability highlights, and our commitment to supporting the local community throughout the build of the station. Chlöe remarked how she is looking forward to riding trains to, from and through Aotea Station in 2024!

Chlöe Swarbrick MP alongside Link Alliance, City Rail Link, and Auckland Council staff near the bluestone wall.

Boring Day Out enjoyed by all!

5,000 free tickets to Link Alliance's "Boring Day Out" were snapped up in 24 hours by people keen to get a close look at Dame Whina, our tunnel boring machine (TBM). Dame Whina will dig two separate 1.6km tunnels, "breaking through" at Aotea Station after leaving Mt Eden site next year.

The event was a way to say thank you to the public for their support of the City Rail Link project.

Prior to the Boring Day Out, there was a Ministerial blessing event. Special guests included Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Mayor Phil Goff and Dame Whina Cooper's daughter, Hinerangi Puru-Cooper.

Dame Whina will take approximately nine months to get to Aotea Station from Mt Eden, with her first break-through anticipated to be December 2021.

Hinerangi Puru-Cooper with Mayor Phil Goff and Hon Grant Robertson.

Members of the public admiring Dame Whina at the Boring Day Out.

Watch video highlights from the Boring Day Out here.

Local children visit Aotea Station

Aotea Station welcomed another school to site this month. Students and teachers from local education centre, Lollipops Educare, based in Albert Street, walked around the site and learnt more about how we are progressing works.

Squeals of delight were heard as the children saw our piling rig working away nearby. A forklift made a special visit up to the fenceline so the children could see it easily and learn more about what we do on site.

Lollipops students also enjoyed a scavenger hunt, identifying all the plant and equipment across the site, including identifying the tallest item our tower crane who we have named George. We look forward to welcoming back Lollipops next year to view the changing site as works progress.

Lollipops students on an end-of-year school visit treat!

Bluestone wall deconstruction continues

Approximately one third of the bluestone wall has now been deconstructed and taken off-site for safe storage.

Much preparation and planning has gone into the deconstruction process, including a special bluestone wall management plan being endorsed by our Heritage Advisory Group,

To maintain property access and coordinate other construction activities in Albert Street, the excavation and deconstruction is done in sections. Deconstruction commenced at the north end, and will move to the south end early next year. The central section of the wall will be deconstructed last.

As you can see in the photos below, numbering of each of the 1800 stones, piers and railings has been carried out to enable reconstruction in exactly the same sequence after the station construction is complete.

Aotea Station team member wins award!

Congratulations to our very own Simon Fenton for winning the Association of Consulting and Engineering (ACE) 2020 Tonkin + Taylor Emerging Leader award.

The Emerging Leader Award, sponsored by Tonkin + Taylor recognises young people who have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities in their consulting work and the communities they design for. Simon was assessed on his work within his previous role at engineering and environmental services consultancy WSP, a participant in the Link Alliance.

Here at Aotea Station, Simon leads our Construction Phase Services Team, and is often seen on the Aotea Station site ensuring all parties are working together to construct a world-class train station.

Simon Fenton, Link Alliance (centre) with Doug Johns (left), Managing Director of Tonkin + Taylor, and Ian Fraser (right), Executive General Manager of Asia Pacific for GHD and President of ACE New Zealand.

Our email address is:
aotea@linkalliance.co.nz

Our phone number is:
0800 CRL TALK (275 8255) then press 3

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Aotea-newsletter - December 2020