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Friday, 30 September 2022
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Kia ora Nigel,
Another huge month at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea)! In addition to the significant progress building the underground train station, we hosted the Prime Minister and celebrated the final breakthrough of the Dame Whina Cooper Tunnel Boring Machine - a major milestone marking the end of tunnelling on the City Rail Link project.
Also this month CRL Ltd's CEO Sean Sweeney provided some more information about duration and costs of the project - read his full piece here.
Photographer Mark Barber has been documenting the CRL construction since 2019 and is a regular visit to our site here in midtown. This month several of his photos were featured in NZ Geographic magazine.
Good to see some of our neighbours at this week's Community Liaison Group meeting, held at Cafe Midnight Express (59 Victoria St West). The presentation and minutes will shortly be available to read here.
As always, to contact us here at Te Waihorotiu Station 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.
Kind regards,
The Te Waihorotiu Station team
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Mission accomplished - CRL tunnelling complete
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This month CRL's Dame Whina Cooper tunnel boring machine (TBM) had her final breakthrough, marking the end of the tunnel boring phase of the project and the completion of the twin 1.6km tunnels. The TBM was named after a truly ground-breaking New Zealander. Her hard work will forever alter how people travel around our city.
The TBM is now being dismantled and lifted out of the underground area. It will then be transported to Auckland's port and shipped back to its manufacturer, Herrenknecht, in China. The TBM was custom built for central Auckland soil conditions, however parts of the TBM are intended to be reused for future projects.
So what's next? Now that both tunnels have been built, the CRL tunnels will move into the rail system stage. The complex work involves rail signals, tracks and other infrastructure so that it can all link up to the existing Auckland rail network.
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Watch the moment of the final breakthrough.
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Hundreds of workers from all around the world have joined the CRL project.
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Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Dame Whina Cooper’s daughter Hinerangi Puru Cooper and CRL Chief Executive Dr Sean Sweeney prepare to cut the cake marking the end of Dame Whina Cooper's final tunnelling journey.
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Faces of Te Waihorotiu Station:
Sione Fanguna
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Hundreds of us come to work each day at Te Waihorotiu Station and we all have a story to tell. Each month we aim to profile some of our crew. This month we turn the spotlight on Sione Fanguna, Foreman of our Victoria Street Zone team.
Also this month, our Utilities Section Engineer Roseanne was profiled in the OurAuckland Magazine for a feature on the regeneration of midtown. Read Roseanne's story here.
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Our people are everything! We supported the MATES In Construction "Fly the Flag" day this month - this is a very important initiative focused on suicide prevention in construction.
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Community and business support
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Safety and security around our construction site remains a key focus with a wide range of measures in place, including CCTV and full-time security guards. This month, after the completion of a major utility relocation package, we widened the Victoria Street public footpath to make the area feel more welcoming and open.
Following engagement with the local business community, we have also recently installed a giant neon sign on Victoria Street - near Tony's Lord Nelson Restaurant (37 Victoria St West). This is aimed at attracting more visitors to the area and improving lighting/safety nearby. Come check it out, day or night!
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We love supporting local - take a look below at the various business support initiatives we delivered in September. A reminder also that applications for the Link Alliance Small Business Support Programme remain open until 31 October 2022, with free and independent business advice available alongside $3000 microgrants.
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We purchased a lovely bouquet of flowers from Roma Blooms Florist (93 Albert St) as a gift to Hinerangi Cooper, marking the successful breakthrough of the Dame Whina Cooper TBM.
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This month we took as special guests the owner-operators of Peppers Cafe (99 Albert St) to directly below where their shop is located at street level. Thank you to Sam and his team for the delicious food our crews love!
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October activations and events
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It is never a dull moment around the Te Waihorotiu Station area - even during its regeneration midtown is a great area to work, live and play!
This month our regular public site tours continue. These tours always fill up fast, so reserve your spot now!
Later in the month, join our Auckland Heritage Festival Tours of the Aotea Quarter, and Support Local to Win $100 while you are here!
We are also proud to be supporting Art in the City 2022. Find out more here and visit our outdoor art galleries from 7 October.
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Te Waihorotiu Station construction progress
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South Zone - Mayoral Drive area
- Concrete façade panels continue to be installed on the Wellesley Street entrance building, including the "earth" element panels on the northern and eastern elevations.
- Underground, the focus is on internal blockwork walls and the transition to partition wall fit-out using plasterboard. We also continue to install the over-track ventilation system - a large duct running the length of the station using precast concrete panels.
- Removal of the TBM continues - her front cutterhead and shield are lifted to surface, while her gantry systems are dragged back to Maungawhau / Mount Eden Station through the tunnel she has just bored.
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Internal steel partition walls are going up, ready to be lined. This area will eventually be a back-of-house zone for train station staff.
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The TBM cutterhead is prepared to be lifted up to surface, using one of the largest cranes in New Zealand.
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Link Alliance participates in a range of initiatives to inspire and support young people in their career choices. This week students from Glenfield College were welcomed to site - pictured here on the roof of the Wellesley St entrance building.
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Central Zone - Albert Street from Wellesley to Victoria
- A big milestone has been reached this week with the final concourse level (B1) concrete poured. The whole Albert Street station concourse alignment in now concreted!
- This means our handover of this concourse level area for fit-out works is just around the corner.
- Deeper down, the structures team is in the final push to remove all dirt to the base slab level (B4), using our telescopic excavator located at surface level.
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Our central zone team pouring the final concourse level concrete - job well done!
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One of the station's four concourse cross-beams, as seen from our camera hanging below the roof of the station and looking down to our excavation area.
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Victoria Street Zone - from Federal to Elliott
- With the completion of the roof structure across Victoria Street, underground excavation continues at pace -- all dirt is due to be removed by the end of the year.
- Both the Victoria Street eastern and western entrances are now clearly visible - it's really starting to feel like a train station!
- Utilities relocation and upgrade works also continue, carefully sequenced and coordinated with the construction of the station structures and utility service providers.
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Both Victoria Street entrances are now visible and are starting to take shape at surface level.
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Below Victoria Street, internal wall construction is now well-underway as we prepare to handover these areas to our systems and internal fit-out teams.
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North Zone - Albert Street from Victoria to Wyndham
- Work to extend the running tunnel boxes continues to progress south from Wyndham Street. In this area we are building outer walls, a central wall, and finally a roof for the tunnel boxes.
- Work here is essentially connecting into the existing "C2" running tunnels from Waitematā Station (Britomart), linking into the Te Wai Horotiu Station concourse and platform structure.
- Train track infrastructure has also started to be laid in these tunnels.
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The first section of precast roof for the running tunnels is carefully lifted into place - this is tricky work and requires expert telehandler operating skills.
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Our north zone crew having a quick smile for the camera, while working within our roof formworks.
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Train track concrete is poured in the running tunnels linking Waitematā Station to Te Waihorotiu Station - ready for the tracks themselves to be laid.
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Prime Minister "walks the tunnels"
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This month Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Transport Minister Michael Wood were invited on a "buggy" trip through one of the completed tunnels linking Maungawhau / Mount Eden Station with Karanga-a-Hape Station (Karangahape) and Te Waihorotiu Station. The CRL is our country's largest transport infrastructure project and we were delighted to show off the progress achieved to date.
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Community survey feedback;
Social Impact & Business Disruption annual report
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The CRL designation conditions require an annual review of the project's implementation of its Social Impact & Business Disruption Delivery Work Plans. Following a data gathering and community feedback process led by Link Alliance participant AECOM, the final Te Wai Horotiu Station report is now available. Thank you for your contributions to this work. The report can be downloaded online here (please scroll to the bottom of the page).
The Link Alliance also regularly undertakes community satisfaction surveys. Last month we received several positive comments about proactive communication and information about upcoming works. The Free Friday Coffee Mornings for our neighbours also have been much appreciated. Some suggestions have been offered such as using more QR codes across the site to advertise contact information, and ensuring works timeframes are clear and accurate across our different channels. Thank you for your feedback!
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Midtown regeneration:
"It will feel like a new city"
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Artist impression of the Wellesley Street Bus Improvements project (just outside Te Waihorotiu Station, between Albert & Queen Sts)
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Building Te Waihorotiu Station is the largest construction project in midtown, but there are plenty of other public projects happening nearby as part of regeneration in the area.
This month, Auckland Council announced indicative construction timing for the Wellesley / Victoria Street "system". Once Te Waihorotiu Station opens, both these streets will have been transformed into a bus corridor and tree-lined pedestrian-prioritised street respectively.
Read more about the regeneration of midtown on OurAuckland.
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