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Mt Eden Newsletter - December 2020

Mt Eden Newsletter - December 2020
Mt Eden Station newsletter - December 2020
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23 December 2020

Kia ora koutou

As December comes to a close, we would like to thank all of our neighbours for all of their support and understanding during a particularly challenging year.

From the Mt Eden Station team, we wish you all the best for the holiday season. Our site office will shut down from 5pm Wednesday 23 December 2020 to 6am Tuesday 5 January 2021, however if you have any urgent queries you can call us on 0800 CRL TALK (275 8255) and press option5.

Meri Kirihimete. Ngā manaakitanga ki runga i ā koe, tō whānau hoki

Mt Eden Station Team

A very Boring Day Out at Mt Eden Station!

Hinerangi Puru-Cooper with Mayor Phil Goff and Hon Grant Robertson
On the bright and sunny Friday morning of 4 December, our TBM was unveiled to the whanau of its namesake, Dame Whina Cooper, and a number of dignitaries. Among whanau was Dame Whina's daughter, Hinerangi Puru Cooper who, alongside Ngāti Whātou o Ōrākei, gave the machine an official blessing.

CRLL Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeny, spoke of Dame Whina Cooper's influence in Aotearoa and Auckland itself. "Just as this project is taking New Zealand to a better place, Dame Whina did that too and that’s why I could think of no more fitting groundbreaking person than Dame Whina Cooper to name our TBM after”.

As a way to say thank you to the public for their support of the City Rail Link project, 5,000 free tickets to Link Alliance's "Boring Day Out" were offered to the public and snapped up in 24 hours by people keen to get a close look at Dame Whina.

Dame Whina will dig two separate 1.6km tunnels, and begin her drive at Mt Eden Station in April next year.

CRL works over holiday period

As part of maintaining the momentum of the project and reducing impact to residents and stakeholders longer term, the Link Alliance is using this holiday period to complete a large amount of work in the rail corridor, which would otherwise require more frequent, shorter pauses on the train network. 

From Boxing Day Saturday 26 December 2020 to Sunday 10 January 2021, the Mt Eden Station construction team will be working 7 days a week along the rail corridor between Grafton scissors and Dominion Road overpass.  

This construction work needs to be undertaken during this time as some of the activities require removal of the track or work that takes place immediately adjacent to the track. If the trains were running, we would be encroaching on the allowable safety clearances. 

Find out more
A map and full list of works notifications for each specific area around the Mt Eden site can be found online at https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/latest-notifications-for-mt-eden 
 

Tawa the tower crane

Last month we asked our community to name the large tower crane situated in the portal area of our Mt Eden Station site.

We are pleased to announce the crane will now be called “Tawa”. Tawa was nominated by Nicholas Latham who said “Tawa is my wife’s name and, like the tower crane will for the project, she does a lot of the heavy lifting, carrying, supporting and looking after our family. Strong, elegant, with presence. It would be nice to acknowledge and treat her with the Sabato voucher. Tawa is also the Maori name of a beautiful native New Zealand tree”. 

For his efforts in naming the crane, Nicholas has been gifted a $200 voucher to our neighbouring business “Sabato”. He said his wife didn’t even know that he had entered her name in the competition and when she found out she was “stoked to have her name selected” and wanted to know if we would paint it pink for her!

Although unfortunately Tawa the tower crane is unable to be painted pink, she will be used to support our big tunnel boring machine and other activities on site such as moving the 2,086 concrete rings that will be used to line the interior of the tunnels.

Chlöe Swarbrick visits Mt Eden Station

Project Engineer Robert Potter pictured with Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick
Yesterday morning our new local MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, toured Link Alliance sites including Mt Eden Station. Chlöe was elected as MP for Auckland Central in October this year.

The tour covered the future Mt Eden train station site and tunnel portal 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 through Auckland in 2024!

New Shaddock Street hoardings in progress

A large scale artwork that will be displayed on our Shaddock Street hoarding (fences) is currently underway with local father and son team Piet and Jan Ubels who are building a sculptural relief wall in the form of a timber ‘stained glass window’.

The wall will be constructed using discarded timber and materials salvaged from the construction site and will consist of tessellated timber sections. It will be incorporating a few key repeating motifs overlaid with a narrative of the local area’s history.

Piet is a local project manager, place maker and artist. Piet grew up in Auckland, attending School in Epsom and has been based in Eden Terrace for several years. 

Jan is a local Sculptor, Creative teacher at Orminston Junior College, and set designer and builder for the NZ Opera.

We are looking forward to having this artwork in place early next year!
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