Kia Ora

It’s been another busy month at Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape).

Excavation has wrapped up at Beresford Square as Mercury Lane’s ‘bottom-up’ build is in full flow.

Down in the mined tunnels, waterproofing and lining of the northbound tunnel is progressing ahead of the arrival of our Dame Whina Cooper Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) later this year.

If you have any questions or concerns we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email at Karangahape@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (0800 275 8255) and press option 4.

Ngā mihi,

The Karanga a Hape Station team

It's time to meet your stations!

Earlier this month the City Rail Link project revealed the final station renders and announced the names of our CRL stations – Karanga a Hape (Karangahape), Te Wai Horotiu (Aotea), Maungawhau (Mt Eden) and Waitematā (Britomart).

These new names reflect the rich cultural narrative of the areas that these stations will serve – which will be mirrored in the designs of the stations themselves.

We are honoured to have been gifted these ngā ingoa tuku iho (traditional names) by our Mana Whenua Forum along with invaluable mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) throughout the project.

Click here to find out more information and to view all of the stations’ renders.

You can visit us at our Karanga a Hape Info Hub to view the renders in person. Situated at 4 Beresford Square, we’re open every Wednesday 9am-12pm, as well as 5-6pm on Thursday 2 June, the same evening as First Thursdays (more on this a little further down).

If you would like to provide feedback about the new names, the New Zealand Geographic Board will likely conduct a formal consultation process later this year.

Something super is coming to Mercury Lane

The project is just weeks away from beginning a major piece of construction for Karanga a Hape Station – the Mercury Lane superstructure.

Once completed, this building will be the entrance point to the station on Mercury Lane and will facilitate thousands of people every hour during peak times.
 
It features a striking ceiling that reflects the vast canopy of kauri trees that had once existed within the area. Escalators and lifts take you down three levels to the platforms – each 203 metres long. The overall experience reflects rising from or descending into the earth, with colours reflecting Auckland’s different geological layers.
 
You can check out more renders depicting the Karanga a Hape Station structures and their designs upon completion on the City Rail Link website.

Works update - Mercury Lane

The cavernous space between Mercury Lane and East Street continues to evolve rapidly as walls and floors take shape.  As with last month, much of the work throughout May focused on reinforcing work, formwork and concrete pours.

Employing the ‘bottom up’ construction methodology means that internal walls are poured as the team build upwards on the way to B3 level. The B3 level is scheduled to be poured by mid-July.

The picture above is taken from the B7 level, looking north towards Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea) from the station box. The recently constructed walls will be connected to the level above using coupled reinforcing bars.

From an engineering perspective one of the trickiest parts of the job in May was pouring the arch that connects from the station box to the tunnels. The formwork protruding from the tunnel creates the arch that binds to the reinforcing steel behind.

Part of the curing process involves placing wet fabric on the concrete to control the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the concrete.

Enjoy a stress-free environment at Maungawhau

The Link Alliance are pleased to offer our Wellbeing Programme, which is managed by our team at Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden), to our nearby neighbours at Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape).

The programme, located at Cityside Baptist Church (8 Mt Eden Road), offers free sessions, including yoga and meditative art, and you can choose to attend either in person or online.

There is also a quiet space at the church for those looking to work or study without any disturbances.

You can view the latest wellbeing activity newsletter to find out what sessions will take place in June. To receive these monthly updates, please subscribe via this link and tick the ‘Wellness Programme Information’ box.

Scaffolding through sisterhood

While most students were enjoying a sleep in for the Easter holidays, four rangatahi wāhine from Auckland Girls Grammar, Manurewa High School, Papakura High School and Auckland Seventh Day Adventist High School joined the Link Alliance whānau through our "Scaffolding through sisterhood" work experience programme.

For a week the girls got to feel, see and hear about the City Rail Link project and the career opportunities in the industry through their wāhine toa mentors, and our passionate people on the project.

Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape) were lucky enough to have Lata Fakahau from Auckland Girls Grammar join the station. Across the week she shared her positive energy and enthusiasm for engineering with everyone working at site, but also with our stakeholders as she helped manage our Info Hub for a few hours!

Works update - Beresford Square

With bulk excavation completed to its lowest point in the station box, the team are now working on infrastructure that sits beneath the floor. Excavation and reinforced concrete construction for the sump is also now complete and drainage works are underway.

The image above was taken from B4 and looks down to B7. The excavated sump, five-metres deep, is in the centre of the picture beneath the scaffolding. A pump will sit inside this void.

The image above shows ongoing drainage works at the western end of the station box. The stub tunnel in the centre of the picture is the launch point for the Dame Whina Cooper tunnel boring machine, whose final drive to Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea) is scheduled for mid-2022.

At the western end of the station box, construction has begun on a train ventilation room on B3. Beresford Square will house two train ventilation fans.

The picture above shows the full depth of the station box. Taken 32-metres below Pitt Street looking west, this is the landing point for a 40-metre-long escalator – the longest in the country – which will take commuters to the platform level.

Meet...Teisha Joseph and Tori Pokai, Traffic Controllers, Beresford Square

This month we’re introducing not one but two members of the Karanga a Hape (Karangahape) team – Teisha and Tori.

What does your job at the Link Alliance entail?

Teisha and Tori: We are traffic controllers and gates persons for the Beresford Square site. As well as managing traffic flow on and around the site, we manage deliveries and site access for our workers.

Where did you grow up?

Teisha: I grew up and lived in Huntly and then lived in Hamilton before moving to Auckland in 2019 to join the project.

Tori: I grew up in Rānui, West Auckland.

Where were you working prior to this?

Teisha: Before joining the team on K-Road, I worked on Albert Street for CRL on the Connectus Joint Venture. This piece of construction was the cut and cover tunnels under and along Albert St from Customs Street to Wyndham Street.

Tori: My previous job was warehousing in Te Atatū.

What do you do when you are not working?

Teisha: I’m kept pretty busy with my 7-month-old boy.

Tori: I spend a lot of my spare time catching up and hanging out with my friends.

Any fun facts about yourself you want to share?

Teisha: I like to change up my hair colour. I’m currently going with blue!

Tori: I love cracking jokes. I’m a bit of a clown and so I enjoy making people laugh and just joking with whoever I’m around, both in and out of work.

Are you looking to get that dream tattoo?

Beresford Square has a new neighbour in the form of tattoo parlour Bruce.

Whether it’s your first tattoo or you’re looking to add to your body art collection, this private tattoo studio at 59 Pitt Street will work with you to tailor your vision.

Bookings are required in advance so please contact Tom at hintontattoo@gmail.com to arrange an appointment.

Bruce will be open Tuesday to Saturday this week (31 May – 4 June) to showcase an exhibition by Kiwi artist Koala Di. This is Koala Di’s debut exhibition showcasing an array of tattoo-based art.

Works update - Mined Tunnels

Throughout May our mined tunnels crew continued to work on installing the permanent lining for the tunnels, which is a three-stage process.

The picture above – looking north into the Beresford Square station box from the northbound tunnel – shows all three stages of the lining process: The waterproof layer, followed by the tying together of reinforcing steel, and finally pouring the concrete lining.

Around 100-metres, approximately 40% of the mined tunnels, have now had the permanent lining installed.  The section above is looking north towards Beresford Square.

Above: Looking west inside adit 3, a cross passage that connects the northbound and southbound tunnels under Beresford Square. The tunnel pointing to the right, adit 4, connects to Beresford Square and will be the main point of entry and exit for that entrance.

Waterproofing is approximately 70% complete. The tunnel on the right connects to Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea), with adits 3 and 4 to the left.

First Thursdays

The start of a new month can mean only one thing around the square…First Thursday!

Taking place on 2 June, a mix of DJs and live musicians will take over the Pocket Park from 4:30pm so time to have a dance with your K-Road whānau.

Alternatively, you can soak up the sounds while wandering through the Karangahape Night Market, along the south side of Beresford Square from 5-9pm.

The Link Alliance Info Hub will also open, from 5-6pm, to give people the chance to take a look at the final City Rail Link station renders.

For the latest announcements for this great event, only possible with the help of Alpha Markets and the Karangahape Business Association, head to the First Thursdays Facebook page.

Benefits of CRL - Travel times

A huge benefit of the City Rail Link is travel times. From Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden), it will take only three minutes to get to Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape); it will take six minutes to Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea) and nine minutes to Waitematā Station (Britomart).

You can take a look at more travel time examples by clicking here.

Sump

A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. The sumps at Karanga a Hape Station collect water.