Kia ora koutou
It has been a busy month at Mt Eden Station with the arrival of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), the start of mined tunnelling and preparation for the public to get up close to our TBM – Dame Whina Cooper. See more below about what our team has been up to this month!
As always, we encourage you to email us at mteden@linkalliance.co.nz or call 0800 CRL TALK (275 8255) then press 5 if you have any questions or concerns about our work.
Ngā mihi nui
Mt Eden Station Team
|
|
Boring Day Out coming to Mt Eden Station
|
|
This Sunday 6th December, we'll be opening our Mt Eden construction site to visitors for a special opportunity to view our Dame Whina Cooper TBM, before she starts to excavate the CRL tunnels.
At the event, attendees will get to see the TBM – named after Māori rights activist Dame Whina Cooper – as well as the portal where the machine will start its underground journey next year.
“We’re so proud to be delivering a project that will bring massive benefits to Auckland and we’re pleased as punch at the huge level of support people have for the work we’re doing,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance which is constructing CRL for City Rail Link Ltd.
Aucklanders have now snapped up all 5000 free tickets to get up close and personal with City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) with tickets to the event sold out within one day!
“We knew that a lot of people wanted to get a sneak peek at our mechanical star, but we are thrilled by the huge demand when tickets did become available. Thank you!”
|
|
Start of mined tunnelling receives traditional blessing
|
|
|
|
Left to right: Link Alliance Project Director Francois Dudouit, Tunnelling Manger Florent Detraux, Reverend Michael Gielen
|
|
A year ago representatives from the project's Mana Whenua Forum formally blessed our Beresford Square and Mercury Lane worksites.
Fast forward to this month and it was our pleasure to welcome the Most Reverend Michael Gielen, Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland for the Catholic Church, to our Mt Eden worksite for a blessing of St Barbara.
Mining tradition hundreds of years old dictates that a statue of St Barbara, the patron saint of miners, must be blessed and placed in a small shrine before the mining works began.
Tunnel mining for the first cavern will take approximately four months to complete and another three weeks will be spent on preparation work ahead of the TBM being launched.
|
|
|
We'll be mining the first 50 metres of tunnel at Mt Eden to accommodate the Dame Whina Cooper TBM that will start its journey towards Aotea in April next year.
|
|
Link Alliance & Uptown Business Association proudly supporting Auckland Artweek
|
|
|
|
Life drawing at the Corner Store
|
|
City Rail Link sites were awash with colour for Auckland Art Week 2020 – once again pulling its weight as New Zealand’s largest art project.
Artweek is an annual, week-long festival celebrating the visual arts of Auckland. Link Alliance Mt Eden Station in conjunction with Uptown Business Association celebrated by hosting ‘A Sunday in Uptown’ event on 18 October.
The Mt Eden Station team hosted a self-guided art tour around the local uptown community with options for participants to visit the Organic Market Garden, the Coffee Pen, the Art Studio Collective and much more.
|
|
|
|
Self guided tour along Boston Road
|
|
|
A huge thank you to all the businesses who participated in Art Week 2020!
|
|
Piling rig naming competition
|
|
|
|
Mt Eden Normal Primary School teacher Christina Levi with students Frankie Syers and Naomi Poynter
|
|
When the ‘biggest piling rig in New Zealand” came to site, we thought it was a great opportunity to share the experience with the local community by requesting Mt Eden Normal Primary School to name it.
Teacher, Christina Levi, took the students through the process of learning about the big rig, asking that the students produce a rationale for their name. The class then internally decided on the winner.
Working as a pair, Frankie Syers and Naomi Poynter won with ‘Whetu’.
’Whetu’ is a Maori name for star. The Maori people thought that stars meant good luck and the rig will need good luck because it will be working long nights and days and it will need lots of luck to do a good job in helping to connect the new City Rail Link. There is a whakatauki (Maori proverb) that says, “many Stars cannot be concealed by a small cloud”. This means that, no matter where you are you, will always see the stars. Therefore, no matter where you are you will always see the drilling rig because of its magnanimous size and weight. Which is why we think the biggest drilling rig in NZ should be named Whetu or Star.
A couple of months later, Whetu was joined by a second big rig, which was titled ‘Stevie’ by runner-up Tate Tavao-Jones.
"I think the name for the second drilling rig should be ‘Stevie’ because Stevie Nicks is the female lead singer of a band called ‘Fleetwood Mac,’ who sings the song ‘Landslide.’ Landslides leave very large cracks in the ground because the movement of mass rock, debris of the earth, which is what the second biggest drilling rig in NZ will be doing!".
Thank you to the children and staff of Mt Eden Normal Primary School for their help in naming our machines.
|
|
Normanby Road Temporary Services Bridge
|
|
For those who regularly travel through Normanby Road, you may have noticed there has been an abundance of construction activity. This is in preparation to construct the Normanby Road Services Temporary Bridge.
The Normanby Road Temporary Services Bridge will carry both services and pedestrians during the duration of the works within the rail corridor.
The bridge will be in operation for about 12 months while Normanby Road is closed and the permanent Normanby Road Vehicle Bridge is built.
|
|
Name the crane competition – closes tonight!
|
|
The new tower crane is starting to take shape within the portal area and will play a very important role in the construction of the CRL tunnels, so it is fitting we give it a name. Traditionally, big pieces of construction machinery are given a female name and once again, we are inviting the public to name the crane, with entries closing tonight Monday 30th November.
The tower crane 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. The image shows the crane in position, once it has been constructed.
Safety is always a number one priority for us, and this model of tower crane (MDT 809) has the highest safety standards and specifications in the world, including the use of fail-safe software to remove the chance of operator error. We will also have ‘no-lift’ zones in place to ensure the safety of people moving around the footpaths and roads on the construction site boundaries.
It's the same model of crane that is currently being used for the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, so has proven credentials working in a high-density, urban environment.
The winning name will be featured on the tower crane and the entrant will win a $200 Sabato voucher! Sabato is a local delicatessen with a delicious range of quality food and drinks – perfect for the upcoming festive season.
Entering is easy – just reply to this email by midnight Monday 30th November with your suggested name - the only criteria is that it’s a female name (as is the tradition), the name is not offensive, and you include a sentence or two about why you think it’s a winner.
The winner will be announced in the December newsletter.
|
|
Link Alliance proudly supporting Movember
|
|
This month our awesome Mt Eden team participated in Movember!
Movember began in 2003 and aims to address men’s mental health, suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer. Since 2003, the Movember initiative has funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects worldwide with the aim to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25% by 2030.
Last year we raised a staggering $7,668 in Movember and we're going to do it again!
At the time of publishing, we had already raised $4,100!
Last Friday the team held a special awards ceremony, inviting all movember participants to struct their stuff in a catwalk to compete for prizes. The competition was fierce with many of our participants donning props and dress ups.
In the end the ‘Mt Eden Movember King’ award went to Project Engineer – Matt Goldring who not only raised up to $200 himself but also sported a truly epic ‘mo’.
|
|
|
|
Crowned Mt Eden 'Movember King' Matt Goldring
|
|
|
You can still support our team by donating to the Link Alliance movember page here.
|
|
On Tuesday 1 December, the Link Alliance’s Mt Eden Station team are holding a special Christmas themed community information session from 4.30pm to 5.30pm at their construction site office at 97 Mt Eden Road.
Everyone is invited to come along to learn more about the CRL project and Mt Eden construction works, ask questions and check out the view of the large Mt Eden station and tunnels construction area. There will also be some Christmas nibbles available to celebrate the festive season!
|
|
|
|
