Britomart's 'ups and downs'
Tunnel walls under construction in front of the Chief Post Office heritage building
Excellent progress is being made on the tunnels under construction at the Lower Queen Street/Britomart site.
Down in the Lower Queen Street “pit”, the last of the concrete has been poured for the base slabs under the Chief Post Office heritage building, clearing the way for work to start on the tunnel walls.
Inside Britomart, preparatory work has started on the installation of an additional, fourth, escalator at the station to improve access for passengers. The heavy-duty metro-style escalator, a familiar sight at tube stations in London, is the first of its kind to be installed in New Zealand.
The new escalator has a number of benefits: it lasts longer, is more efficient, able to move 100 people a minute and is safer – there are four level treads instead of the traditional two or three, giving people more time to settle before they are carried up or down. The existing three escalators at Britomart will eventually be replaced with heavy duty ones.
Getting workers home safely at the end of their shifts is a priority for City Rail Link Ltd at all its sites. That commitment to safety is demonstrated at Lower Queen Street/Britomart. During construction half a million work hours have been completed with no lost time injuries. At the same time, there has been minimal movement of the CPO building “perched” above the tunnel work, and minimal effect, as well, on buildings adjacent to the work site.