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Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori from the team to all of our Maungawhau neighbours. This year we are celebrating Matariki from 21 o Pipiri ki 16 o Hōngongoi (21 June to 16 July). This is a time for us to remember those who have passed, to celebrate the present, and to plan for the year ahead.
At Link Alliance we have been embracing the opportunities that Matariki presents by learning more about Māoritanga (Māori culture and traditions). Members of our Link Alliance whānau joined a hikoi (walk) at Maungawhau (Mt Eden) to observe the Matariki stars, and Link Alliance teams also shared hāngī in celebration.
As always, if you have any questions about our work activities in the year ahead, don’t hesitate to get in touch at mteden@linkalliance.co.nz or 0800 CRL TALK press 5 for Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden). You can also follow Link Alliance’s progress by clicking the social media buttons below:
Ngā mihi,
The Maungawhau Station team
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Progress is in the air at Maungawhau Station as the ventilation building takes shape. Precast concrete panels are in place for the ground floor and crews are now installing 28 exterior panels for the first floor.
The panels' design is created by artist Graham Tipene, and incorporates a ‘whakarare’ pattern. This pattern reflects ‘Te Hā’ (the breath). This is particularly fitting as the building will play an important role in housing the ventilation system for the City Rail Link (CRL) tunnels. The ventilation system will work together with the equipment at Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape) to keep air moving through the tunnels.
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The installation of the remaining panels for the building’s second and third floors will take place over the coming months. People will notice the graduating shades of the panels as they become lighter at each level. The roof of the building is expected to be installed before the end of the year.
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The Dame Whina Cooper Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) is making great progress on its second tunnel drive and has travelled approximately 500 metres underground, installing close to 340 concrete rings that line the tunnel. The TBM is nearing its first destination at Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape) where it is expected to break through in July.
Now that the TBM operations are full scale, the permanent overland spoil conveyor belt is in 24/7 operation, transporting excavated spoil out of the tunnel and onto site. Truck movements to and from the Maungawhau Station site are steady as spoil trucks collect and transport this material off site, and the concrete lining segments are delivered.
You can follow the TBM’s second and final drive by checking out our website www.digCRL.co.nz.
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Stepping up at Porters Avenue
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The team have been ‘stepping up’ construction on the Porters Avenue footbridge over the last few weeks, with the precast stairs and the steel frames for the lift shafts being installed on both sides at Porters Avenue and Wynyard Road. It is a step in the right direction as this work enables the removal of the last of the rail level-crossing at the Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden) section of rail line.
It took an impressive 13 lifts using a 90-tonne crane to hoist all the pieces of the lift shaft steel frames and precast stairs, over the last four weeks. The installation came down to a precision exercise similar to that of a jigsaw puzzle, where the bolt holes on the frame had to line up perfectly with the precast stairs – and to the teams' relief all went to plan.
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As the bridge continues to take shape, you can see the impressive architecture. The bridge architecture was designed by Jasmax in collaboration with local artist Tessa Harris. Before the bridge is opened, Link Alliance will undertake work to complete the surrounding streetscaping including the footpaths, roads and tree pits – and install the bridge elevators and final touches. The target date for completion is the end of October, when the bridge will be fully open for public use.
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Special visits to Maungawhau
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You may have noticed on our social media, the month of June presented multiple opportunities for the team to showcase Link Alliance mahi to a few special visitors on site, including key stakeholders and partners.
Recently, TVNZ’s Seven Sharp headed underground to explore the first of the two bored tunnels. Reporter Michael Holland captured some great footage of the underground tunnel progress, including heartwarming conversations with our teams from Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden), Karanga a hape Station (Karangahape), and Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea).
If you didn’t catch the episode, you can check it out by clicking here.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore visited the first of two CRL tunnels this month. They were given an up-close update on project progress with CRL Ltd CEO Sean Sweeney and Link Alliance site representatives, you can watch the highlights from the tour here.
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The Maungawhau team also welcomed our partners Eke Panuku and Kāinga Ora onto site, who are tasked with delivering the development opportunities adjoining the station site, post CRL construction. The programme is being guided by a set of Foundation Outcomes and the work will begin once the CRL is completed.
And lucky last, we had the opportunity of highlighting the project’s great sustainability efforts to Green Party Co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson along with Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick.
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Upcoming Block of Line: 8 - 11 July
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To maintain project momentum, a Block of Line (BOL) will take place from Friday 8th July at 9pm to Monday 11th July at 4am. No trains will be running on the rail network during this time while construction activity takes place during the day and night in and around the rail corridor.
As some of the construction activities will take place immediately adjacent to the track, it is safest for our teams to do this while trains are not running. Some of the work during this BOL will involve;
work on the overhead lines and signaling equipment, installation of kilometrage posts along the track, use of tamper and ballast machines for maintenance, installation of services, safety screen installation and remedial works, and sheet pile removal.
Check out the construction calendar for the latest updates about out-of-regular hours or extraordinary work, or the website notifications page for updates on the ongoing work programme.
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Quarterly stakeholder engagement survey
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Thanks to you for the spectacular response to the quarterly stakeholder survey completed last month and covering the second quarter of 2022. Almost double the number of surveys returned and we are chuffed about it. Your feedback is essential for us to know how we are performing in our comms and engagement and to identify any gaps.
Road closures were top of mind in your feedback this quarter. You told us you would like to have up-to-date information about road closures and traffic management. We get that! Please check out the construction calendar for up to the minute information about roadworks and other construction activity. In response to your feedback, we’ll post all roadworks on the calendar here forward regardless of whether or not it is outside of regular work.
You told us that Community Liaison Group (CLG) in-person meetings are valued. We’ll look at holding more of these meetings in person again, alternating between in-person meetings and online meetings. The July CLG will return to an in-person format. In the meantime, a few survey respondents were concerned that in the online meetings, the answers to questions weren’t recorded. You can find all CLG minutes including questions and answers on the CRL website CLG pages.
In response to previous feedback, we have been continually making improvements to our notification processes. To date we have revamped our email systems so that you now receive information that you have opted to receive, and relevant to locations of the work of interest to you. In July we will take that one step further with visualisations in the notification that will draw your eye to the information you need.
One lucky neighbour won a $100 dollar voucher to a local restaurant by taking the survey and entering the draw. Are you our next winner? Look for the quarter three survey in your inboxes in August. For all those who have taken the time to share – Thanks again! We value your feedback.
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The kids’ art is complete and the trenches are being filled in. Over the next two months this part of the Link Alliance project will be finished and the park returned to the community, and the dogs of course.
Many of our Basque Park neighbours have told us how much they love the art in Park on the construction hoardings. Link Alliance love it too! As the hoardings come down look for those fabulous art pieces to appear in other areas as we recycle the art to provide visual beauty to the perimeter of other Link Alliance Maungawhau construction locations.
Keep your eyes tuned for an end of project celebration for the Basque Park community...
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City Rail Link Targeted Hardship Fund
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Just a reminder that businesses can apply to receive financial support from City Rail Link Ltd’s $12m Targeted Hardship Fund. This scheme was set up to support small businesses experiencing genuine hardship from major and sustained CRL disruption surrounding the Te Wai Horotiu Station (Aotea), Karanga a Hape Station (Karangahape) and Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden) sites (within the C3 Affected Area). To find out more about the fund’s eligibility criteria, or how to apply, please visit https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/targetedhardshipfund or email TSA at C3Hardship@tsamgt.com.
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Development Response Manager's restaurant review
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Looking for that next iconic Uptown attraction to try out?
Taking culture to a new level is the delectable Sen Vietnamese Kitchen & Bar, located on Normanby Road. Inside the beautiful & historic Colonial Ammunition Company building I found a spacious, yet cosy interior décor that is perfect for intimate get-togethers, functions and events. Isn’t there always something palette transforming when you find yourself dining in a beautiful venue?
In saying that, the food very much does stand strongly on its own merits - come for both lunch and dinner because you won’t be disappointed with the menu. The dishes consist of genuinely authentic Vietnamese street food that reflects the heritage and diversity of the people of Vietnam. For myself, I fancied their Vegetarian Stir-Fried Rice Noodle dish with a side of Tofu Summer Rolls. Although, for all you meat-eating readers, apparently the must-tries are their famous Bo Luc Lac (Shaking Lamb) and their take on a Vietnamese staple, Pho soup.
We found the service at Sen to be quick and friendly, and if you find yourself lucky enough to be under the care of the Maître d and co-owner Bo, you may begin to consider yourself being treated like a long-lost friend.
Don’t overlook how good this place is!
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Each month Link Alliance looks at some of the more technical terms from the construction to ‘translate’ into more easy-to-understand terms. This month we look at ‘Bicycle Stair Ramp’.
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If you have ever wondered what the flat ramp up the side of stairs is used for, it’s so that people can easily push their bikes up the stairs rather than carrying them. It also goes by many other names such as ‘wheeling ramp’, ‘push ramp’ or ‘runnel’, but here at the Link Alliance, we call it the ‘bicycle stair ramp’.
The picture above shows the bicycle stair ramp that has been incorporated into the design for the Porters Avenue Bridge. This way, people will easily be able to get their bikes up and over the bridge between Wynyard Road and Porters Avenue.
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You are invited to to join the Maungawhau team on a public perimeter site walk and Infohub next week, Tuesday 5th July at the CRL visitor centre Te Manawa (1 New North Road).
The perimeter tour will take you out into the fresh air to see what is happening behind the hoardings and to see the new station being built. The tour commences at 4.30pm and takes about one hour, to sign up for the tour please send us an email to mteden@linkalliance.co.nz. Numbers are limited so get in quick!
Alternatively, or afterwards, warm up and jump into the world of virtual reality and explore the new Maungawhau Station (Mt Eden) building designs in our Infohub. We also have an interactive 3D model of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) on display. Come along from 5pm – 7pm.
We look forward to seeing you.
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