CRL’s “Boring Day Out” A Sell Out
All 5000 free tickets to the City Rail Link’s “Boring Day Out” have been snapped up by curious Aucklanders – eager to get a glimpse at the machine capable of drilling seven-metre-wide tunnels deep beneath the earth’s surface.
Tickets to the public event – in which visitors can get up close and personal with the Dame Whina Cooper tunnel boring machine (TBM), and view the portal in which she’ll start her underground journey – were available online from 10am Thursday, 19 November, and had sold out by Friday afternoon.
TBM’s are traditionally given female names for good luck, to honour St Barbara, the patron saint of people working underground. Though a nationwide naming campaign, New Zealanders named the TBM Dame Whina Cooper after the revered Māori rights activist who was known as Te Whaea o te Motu, the Mother of the Nation.
Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance, said he was “pleased as punch” at the level of support people have for project.
“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!”
Boring Day Out
At the “Boring Day Out” on Sunday, 6 December, Aucklanders will get a first-hand view of the TBM’s formidable cutterhead and shield at the City Rail Link Mt Eden construction site.
At 7.15 metres tall the machine stands taller than Auckland Zoo’s giraffes and when fully constructed, the TBM will be longer than a rugby field.
There will be 10 visiting sessions, with 500 attendees each – the first entry is at 9am and the last at 6pm.
The walk is 600 metres long and starts at the site entry on Ngahura Street, near New North Road, Eden Terrace.
As well as viewing the TBM, visitors will be able to check out the other impressive pieces of machinery vital to the City Rail Link such as piling rigs, excavators and tower cranes.
People will also see the southern tunnel portal where the Dame Whina Cooper TBM will start its underground journey next year to complete construction of the two CRL tunnels.