Kia ora <<First Name>>,

It's been an incredibly busy past month for the Aotea Station team! A road re-opening, an intersection closing, underground works expanding, and new structures appearing above ground.

Read on to find out all about what has been happening and what is coming up for the Aotea Station construction as part of the City Rail Link project.

As always, to contact us you can email us at: aotea@linkalliance.co.nz
or call 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255 and press option 3) to speak to us. 

Ngā mihi nui,
The Aotea Station team

Works well underway at Victoria St / Albert St intersection

Work is now underway on Victoria Street with a programme of major construction activity due to rollout over several years. Initial activity at the intersection will focus on utility upgrades and relocations. Some of this work can be noisy and dusty so we have a range of construction mitigations in place to help minimise impact to our neighbours.

Since the intersection was closed to vehicles we have already completed the installation of a new water main, installed a new link pillar, and continued preparatory works for additional utility upgrades.

Upcoming works

• There will be a pedestrian walkway diversion on the corner of the Surf & Snow building due to a service pit being opened up for utility upgrades (see map below).
• A service pit will be opened up for utility upgrades outside Subway -- customers will need to use the ramp rather than the stairs to access Subway (see map below).
• A glass section of the canopy outside EZ Cash will be temporarily removed on Wednesday this week. This is in advance of a piling/drilling machine coming in for wastewater works in the coming weeks. Please note during wastewater works there can be intermittent odours.
• There are service cutovers scheduled over the next few weeks and any affected buildings will be notified by their service provider. 

Loading zones
The main loading zones are located on Victoria Street -- between Elliott Street & Queen Street and Federal Street & Hobson Street, on both north and south sides of the road. Loading times on Elliott Street has been extended to 6am-6pm during construction. Signage has been installed to clearly mark loading locations; please note some of these areas are goods vehicles only.

Please note, Auckland Transport is responsible for enforcing city loading zones and can be contacted on 09 355 3553. 

Rubbish and recycling
Rubbish pickups for businesses and residents are continuing as normal. In some cases, your bins or bags may need to be placed in a slightly different location (signs have been installed in these new locations). We are adding additional temporary public street bins at the intersection for general use. 

Heath, safety, & security
A range of measures are in place, such as; accessible step-free walkways, pedestrian lighting, perspex windows and lines of sight through hoardings, and regular cleaning of the area.

Auckland Council look after daily street cleaning in the area; for public hygiene incidents or urgent clean-ups you can contact them directly on 09 301 0101

We also employ a full-time overnight security guard to patrol the site area. Please contact us immediately to report any undesirable behavior or incidents. If you suspect criminal activity, please contact police at 111 if it's an emergency, or 105 for non-emergency.

Significant progress across all areas of Aotea Station

The last few months of work at Aotea have seen some incredible progress. At the Mayoral Drive end we have now begun construction of the columns for the Wellesley public entrance building as we begin preparations to construct its first level above ground; at the same time underground excavation and construction continues for the B1 and concourse levels.

We have now completed over 80% of our bored piled works and almost 80% of our station diaphragm walls and hit our major milestones of re-opening Wellesley Street and closing the Victoria/Albert intersection. Now that the Victoria/Albert Street intersection has closed we have begun the utilities upgrades and relocations ahead of station construction in that area.

Further North, closer to Kingston Street, we have continued to create the upstand station wall, where the Bluestone Wall previously was, and completed key roof slab pours ahead of work moving underground in the coming months.

South - Aotea Station Building and Mayoral Drive

• Excavation of the TBM opening portal continues (this is where the front of the TBM will be removed at the end of this year)
• Completed the first concrete pour for three of the superstructure columns.
• Excavation of the B1 level continues with the first concrete slab poured.

Central - Albert Street from Wellesley to Victoria

• Work on the diaphragm walls (D-walls) has progressed near Crowne Plaza Hotel.
• Excavation of the concourse level of the station platform continues.
• Crowne Plaza airbridge temporary removal completed to allow for d-wall construction.

North - Albert Street from Victoria to Wyndham

• Utilities upgrade and relocation on Victoria Street continues with a new watermain and link pillar now installed.
• Upstand wall construction continues from Wyndham Street down to Victoria Street.
• Roof slab construction continues north with backfilling following.
• Excavation of the tunnels is progressing towards the already completed section of tunnel at Wyndham Street.

Live Jazz nights - Tony's Lord Nelson Restaurant

When: Every Friday | 7:00pm to 10:00pm - no cover charge
Where: Tony's Lord Nelson Restaurant, 37 Victoria Street West, Auckland
Event page: Facebook | Website

Acclaimed saxophonist Roger Manins leads a Friday night residency at Tony's Lord Nelson restaurant, supported by Link Alliance -- classic jazz standards, served up alongside great steaks at one of Auckland's longest-operating restaurants.

Roger Manins is widely regarded as one of the premier saxophonists in the Southern hemisphere. He performs regularly throughout New Zealand and Australia, and is featured on over 40 albums as a sideman, with six releases of his own. A senior lecturer at Auckland University, Roger is also the creative director of CJC Creative Jazz Club Aotearoa.

Established over 40 years ago, Tony's Lord Nelson Restaurant is a unique and beautiful setting with private booths for intimate dinners downstairs, and open spaces upstairs which cater for bigger groups and parties. The impressive menu which includes seafood, venison, lamb, chicken, and its famous prime steaks will entice you and leave your mouth watering!

LEARNZ - Future journeys
An online field trip for students

Students nationwide are getting the chance to “visit” the City Rail Link project without leaving their classrooms in this online field trip. You may even spot a few familiar faces from around site as the online field trip features some of our amazing team here at Aotea Station!

Video technology is turning the project into a virtual classroom for students from all over New Zealand, allowing them to see how the project is being built while highlighting careers available in the infrastructure industry.

The online field trip allows students to travel online to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and follow the environmental, cultural, and social sustainability stories from the City Rail Link rail project.

Roseanne Ulunga, Site Utilities Engineer, Pania-Atarangi Thompson, Environmental Administrator, and Isaac Devaney-Bray, Structures Engineer are some of the awesome Aotea Station team featured in this programme.

Click here find out more and to get your school to enroll in the programme >>

Short and Sweet

Jargon Buster: Piling

Each month Link Alliance looks at some of the more technical terms from construction and ‘translates’ them. This month we look at the term ‘Piling’.

Piling is a construction method used by the project where vertical concrete or steel columns are driven into the ground to form the support structures for the perimeter walls of the underground station and tunnels.

Here at Aotea Station, the most common form of piling you will see are bored piles. These steel columns are approximately 850mm in diameter and take around 4-6 hours to install with a tall piling rig machine.

Soon piling works will begin at the Victoria St / Albert St intersection.