These are the TBM-related media releases we issued
14 September 2022
Mission Accomplished: tunnelling complete
Auckland’s world-class underground metro rail network will be a stage closer when the tunnel boring machine Dame Whina Cooper breaks through at Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) tonight, marking the completion of the tunnel boring phase of the transformational transport project.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff welcomed the milestone for Auckland’s transport network: “The final tunnel breakthrough is the culmination of 13 months of hard work by the tunnelling teams. When complete, City Rail Link will make it faster and easier to get into and around central Auckland, immediately doubling the capacity of heavy rail and ultimately carrying up to 54,000 passengers per hour in peak times.
“It will stimulate investment, business opportunities and housing growth, and will be a critical part of the world-class public transport network that Auckland needs to succeed as New Zealand’s international city,” Mayor Goff says.
City Rail Link chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney said the major achievement of boring twin 1.6km tunnels up to 42m below New Zealand’s largest and busiest city was completed under the most challenging construction conditions.
“Building an underground rail network has never been attempted in New Zealand before,” says Dr Sweeney. “To have achieved what this team of 2,000 people have in the face of a global pandemic, multiple lockdowns, restricted Covid-working conditions and multiple other challenges is nothing short of extraordinary.
“There is so much more to do on the CRL project but the final breakthrough is an appropriate moment to pause and reflect on the extraordinary job our people have done in building these twin underground tunnels,” he says. “These tunnels are the cornerstone of the country’s first rapid transit rail network and will enable a transformational change in our biggest city.”
Key achievements during the tunnel boring phase (see backgrounder for more detail) include:
Completion of the tunnel-boring phase of the City Rail Link project, comprising two 1.6km tunnels
The TBM travelled more than 3.2 km, placed 2,118 segment rings and removed 260,000 tonnes of spoil during the boring of the twin tunnels - each 1.6kms long from Maungawhau/Mount Eden Station to Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea)
More than 64,200 cu m of concrete used to build the City Rail Link tunnels – the equivalent of 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools
The Dame Whina Cooper tunnel boring machine weighs 910 tonnes, is 130m long and has a diameter of 7.15m
Francois Dudouit, project director for Link Alliance, the group of companies building the main contract of tunnels and stations for CRL, says the swifter finishing of the second tunnel reflected operational improvements and efficiency gains.
“I’m absolutely delighted at the performance of our team of 2,000 people who have brought their very best to this important project,” says Dudouit. “Everyone understands we are building the future of public transport in Tāmaki Makaurau and it will leave a lasting legacy for all its people”.
Whānau of Dame Whina Cooper, including daughter Hinerangi, will be present at the event tonight: “What a journey this has been. I think back to our beginning at Mt Eden and am so grateful we are here, together at the end,” says Hinerangi Cooper-Puru. “Two wāhine toa have been with us throughout the TBM’s journey – my Mum and Saint Barbara (the patron saint of tunnellers). They have both endeavoured to protect our people and have guided us through to the completion of the tunnels.”
Now the tunnel boring is complete, Dame Whina Cooper will be dismantled and lifted above ground. It will then be transported to the port for shipping back to its manufacturer, Herrenknecht. Parts of it will be repurposed.
26 April 2022
Underway again! Dame Whina Cooper digging second CRL tunnel
Karakia and prayers celebrated the start this morning of the second transformational journey City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will make below Auckland’s skyline building the country’s first underground railway.
The TBM, named in honour of Māori champion, Dame Whina Cooper, started its subterranean drive from CRL’s Mt Eden site into the central city. Its first destination will be the underground station below Karangahape Road before a planned arrival next spring at the project’s Aotea site.
“Fantastic teamwork by the TBM crew to get cracking today despite all that omicron could throw at us is a great achievement and something Aucklanders should rightly celebrate as we take a huge step towards completing CRL,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive of City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd).
Dame Whina Cooper is operated by the Link Alliance – the six national and international infrastructure companies delivering CRL’s main tunnels, stations and rail systems contract – completed the first of the two CRL tunnels on the eve of last Christmas. Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit, says the TBM’s second drive will be just as challenging as the first.
“No matter how well you plan, things can always change,” Mr Dudouit says. “We learnt a lot from last year but constructing a bored tunnel is a unique and complex task bound to bring challenges, particularly when you’re working below a city. Importantly, our TBM crews are experts at successfully confronting obstacles – restricted working conditions because of covid or Auckland’s ground conditions – and getting the job done safely.”
Kaumātua from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Father Christopher Denham, Dean of the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph blessed Dame Whina Cooper and its crews before power was officially switched on and the TBM’s 7.15-metre-wide revolving cutter head began digging into the earth.
Dame Whina Cooper is a multi-tasker. The 130-metre-long TBM completes three jobs: cutting the spoil, removing the spoil by conveyor built to the surface, and installing the concrete segments - 14,735 in total – that will line the twin rail tunnels. There will be a crew of 12 working each shift on the TBM, supported by another team of around 12 above ground.
In keeping with mining tradition, big machines working underground are named after a significant woman to honour St Barbara, the patron saint of miners. Dame Whina Cooper is a champion of Māori land and social rights. New Zealanders helped the Link Alliance and CRL Ltd choose her name as an appropriate one for a TBM playing a significant role in Auckland’s transport future.
Dame Whina Cooper completes its work at the southern end of the station being built at the Aotea site. Tunnels already built from Britomart connect with the northern end of the new station.
The travel impacts of a completed CRL will be huge. The 3.45-kilometre-long railway will make it easier for Aucklanders to reach the centre of their city. The entire rail network will operate more effectively, trains will be frequent, they will be longer with more seats, and journeys will be quicker.
Christmas cracker! Dame Whina Cooper comes to town
22 December 2021
City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, broke through into the Aotea Station in central Auckland today, marking the end of its epic underground journey for the project and for the city.
“Our aim was always to get into central Auckland before Christmas and here we are – pleased and proud at what a committed Link Alliance team of contractors has achieved in some pretty testing times. It’s been a hard year but a better rail network for an international city like Auckland is getting closer,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney.
Transport Minister Michael Wood, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Dame Whina Cooper’s whanau and CRL workers welcomed the TBM as it cut through a concrete protective wall into Aotea at the end of tunnelling that had started at Mt Eden in May.
The Crown and Auckland Council are CRL’s Sponsors, and both Minister Wood and Mayor Goff recognised the significant progress made by the project despite the pandemic.
“It’s great to see Dame Whina Cooper finish its journey – a positive milestone that is an exciting Christmas delivery for Auckland,” Mr Wood says. “CRL will form the heart of linked-up high-capacity rapid transit network for the city.”
Mr Goff describes the Aotea breakthrough as remarkable.
“While we continue to face challenges due to the pandemic, we are making good progress on delivering this essential infrastructure. Once complete, the CRL will be a gamechanger for the region, doubling train capacity, reducing journey times and carrying the equivalent of up to 16 extra traffic lanes into the city at peak times,” the Mayor says.
Dr Sweeney describes the breakthrough as the “icing on CRL’s Christmas cake” after a year of significant advances - re-opening the city’s restored Chief Post Office, connecting Aotea to the Albert Street section of tunnels, mining New Zealand’s deepest station at Karangahape, re-locating the huge Huia 2 watermain at Mt Eden, and navigating through a Covid-19 pandemic.
“This breakthrough is a great morale booster for a dedicated team working at times under stressful conditions. It gives us great confidence going into the second half of the project next year,” he says.
“Covid is responsible for a lot of disruption. CRL Ltd and the Link Alliance are now assessing the impact of that disruption on construction timetables and costs. We’ll have a clearer picture next year. What is important today is that the Link Alliance has progressed a vital piece of Auckland’s transport infrastructure.”
During its seven month-long journey, the TBM multi-tasked – cutting into the earth, removing spoil to the surface, and installing the concrete panels that line the tunnels.
Following centuries-old mining tradition, the TBM’s name recognises a woman of significance and mana – for CRL it is Dame Whina Cooper. Today’s breakthrough occurred less than a fortnight after the Māori champion’s day of birth in 1895.
Dame Whina’s son, Joseph, says the breakthrough reflects in many ways the impact his mother made on Māori and all people living in New Zealand/Aotearoa.
"Kite matau nga iwi te kopura marama i tera moka o Te Kauhanga Raro – we the people can see the light at the end of the underground sacred passageway,” Mr Cooper says.
The breakthrough marks the end of the first of two underground journeys for Dame Whina Cooper.
The front section, known as the shield, will be lifted out in sections and transported back to Mt Eden. The shield’s supporting sections, or gantries, will move back through the newly excavated tunnel to Mt Eden and reconnected with the shield for the TBM’s second drive to Aotea next year.
A completed CRL connects a redeveloped Mt Eden station directly with Auckland’s main station at Britomart. Two underground stations along the 3.45-kilometre route – Aotea and Karangahape – will make it easier to access the central city for work and pleasure.
CRL progress: One “lady” on the move again, two others “retired”
10 November 2021
Dame Whina Cooper, City Rail Link’s (CRL) Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), has started the second leg of its four-stage journey below Auckland streets for the country’s largest transport infrastructure project.
The TBM’s 785-metre-long drive from Karangahape Station to Aotea Station in the heart of Auckland’s midtown is planned to finish early in the new year.
The TBM completed its first leg – 860 metres from CRL’s Mt Eden site to Karangahape - last month.
“We’re very happy to be on the move again for Auckland,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance, which operates the TBM. “Our teams above and below ground have adapted successfully to working in a covid environment and arriving safely for breakthrough at Aotea is our new goal.”
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s recent five-week-long Covid lockdown delayed the TBM’s planned September breakthrough at Karangahape. Tunnelling accelerated when lockdown restrictions eased and its Karangahape arrival was well ahead of its rescheduled time.
The 130-metre-long TBM ‘pushed’ its way 223 metres to the northern end of the Karangahape Station cavern to resume its work – cutting into the earth, removing spoil along a conveyor belt, and lining the tunnel with concrete panels.
Dame Whina Cooper’s resumed mahi (work) from Karangahape coincides with the “retirement” of CRL’s two other hard working “ladies”.
Two roadheader machines - one named Dame Valerie Adams to honour our world and Olympic athletics champion and the other after New Zealand aviation pioneer Jean Batten – have ended their work excavating Karangahape’s two platform caverns. The job was completed with the last breakthrough from the caverns into the ‘box’ where the Mercury Lane entrance to the station is being built.
“This is a job very well done,” says Francois Dudouit. “Construction like this - building a station 35 metres below ground in a busy city – is something New Zealand has not seen before.”
Karangahape will be the country’s deepest railway station. It stretches below the Karangahape Road ridgeline with entrances at Mercury Lane and Beresford Square.
Together, Jean Batten and Dame Valerie Adams excavated and removed approximately 84,000 tonnes of sandstone.
Temporary support within the platform caverns and connecting cross passages or adits has so far involved the installation of 7,000 rockbolts and spraying 6,000 m3 of shotcrete.
Large machines like roadheaders and TBMs working underground are traditionally named after women of significance.
At Aotea, Dame Whina Cooper will be dismantled underground and returned to Mt Eden in sections, reassembled and then excavate the second rail tunnel in 2022.
Breakthrough! Karangahape welcomes Dame Whina
17 October 2021
Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) is today celebrating a mighty milestone with its powerful Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, breaking through into the Karangahape Station construction site at the end of its 860-metre-long journey from Mt Eden.
CRL workers 32 metres below ground at Karangahape welcomed Dame Whina Cooper as the TBM breached a 100-millimetre-thick protective wall of concrete into the station cavern.
“Despite all the curve balls, complications and challenges covid keeps throwing our way, we’ve arrived – it’s a positive, exciting and significant arrival,” says City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive,
Dr Sean Sweeney. “Aucklanders can’t see it, but far below their streets a railway that is goingto change their lives for the good is rapidly starting to take shape.”
Dr Sweeney says breakthrough success is tempered by covid’s continuing consequences forNew Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project.
“It is very clear, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone, that the pandemic has had serious impacts onour project costs and construction timings” he says. “Assessments are underway now so thawe have a much clearer picture of the extent and depth of covid’s effects on us.”
New Zealand’s recent five-week-long covid lockdown delayed the TBM’s planned Septemberbreakthrough. CRL’s main contractor, the Link Alliance, continued to operate the TBM during the lockdown, well below full capacity, to stop earth settling around it. Tunnelling accelerated when lockdown restrictions eased.
“Great collaboration, planning and old-fashioned hard labour from all our teams below and above ground helped us regain some of that momentum lost to the lockdown – we’re at Karangahape in great shape well ahead of our rescheduled time in November --a real bonus,” says Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit. “The TBM was running sweetly at a ratehigher than planned during its drive under Spaghetti Junction on the motorway.”
Covid-related health and safety protocols curtailed larger breakthrough celebrations. The TBMoperators did mark their arrival with a symbolic gift for Karangahape Station workers - a hardhat representing the Link Alliance’s commitment to achieve industry-leading standards in health, safety, and wellbeing. The hard hat bears Dame Whina Cooper’s portrait.
Celebrations as Dame Whina Cooper drives on for Auckland
01 October 2021
The project’s big Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, has reached the 500-metre mark onthe first leg of its 1.6-kilometre-long journey from Mt Eden into central Auckland.
“This is fabulous news for the project, and for Auckland too,” says City Rail Link’s Chief Executive, Dr SeanSweeney. “It’s giving everyone a lift – there’ a lot of dedicated work behind this - and we’re telling Aucklandwe’re not going to be stopped by all the challenges the pandemic keeps throwing our way.” The TBM is currently below Symonds Street in Auckland’s uptown district. It is operated by CRL’s main contractor, the Link Alliance.
“Arriving at the 500-metre mark is an important target for tunnellers everywhere,” says Link Alliance Project Director, Francois Dudouit. “Getting there so soon after the level four lockdown ended is a great achievement and demonstrates the persistence and hard work of our teams above and below ground to get the tunnels built.”
Dame Whina Cooper began tunnelling CRL’s southbound tunnel in late May. During the five week-long covid lockdown, the TBM continued to operate, well below full capacity, to reduce the risk of becoming trapped by the pressure of the earth around it. “We were well prepared to ramp up our work once the lockdown ended,” Mr Dudouit says.
Covid-related health and safety protocols are observed while tunnelling continues at pace operating 24hours a day, 7 days a week. Teams are working 12-hour shifts – one team of 12 on the TBM and another 12 above ground, with many others supporting the operation.
Dame Whina Cooper will soon pass under the Auckland motorway network’s Spaghetti Junction on its path towards the next important destination – CRL’s Karangahape Station. Arrival there is planned for the end of the year. The final leg of the TBM’s first drive – Aotea Station in central Auckland – will be completed earlyin the new year. Dr Sweeney says the pandemic has impacted the tunnelling programme. Since March 2020, and not including Auckland’s latest ongoing level 3 alert, CRL has endured 205 days of lockdowns or restricted working conditions under levels 4, 3, 2.5 and 2. By anyone’s reckoning, 205 days is still an awful lot of disruption,” he says. “But very importantly, no-one at CRL has lost sight of how important the project is for Auckland and the big changes it will bring to the people who live and work here.”
Dame Whina Cooper’s historic journey starts
27 May 2021
The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, has started its historic and transformational journey below Auckland’s skyline to excavate the City Rail Link tunnels – New Zealand’s first underground railway.
“Progress over the first initial metres is cautious but steady while our crews bed down getting used to the machine and conditions underground,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance. “Happily we – the project team and wider Auckland - have plenty to celebrate. When the work’s done, Dame Whina Cooper’s legacy will be a world class railway for Auckland, and travelling around the city will never be the same again.”
Tunnel excavations have started from City Rail Link’s Mt Eden site. Its first destination is the Karangahape Station, 830 metres away. From there it bores on to the Aotea Station in central Auckland – a total journey for the TBM of 1.6 kilometres - to join the section of CRL tunnels already built from the Britomart transport hub.
After Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff ceremonially turned on the TBM for the first time earlier this month, final commissioning checks, which included excavating the first few metres of tunnel, were completed successfully.
“It’s not unlike getting a new car – we have a bespoke TBM built just for the soil conditions in this part of Auckland and we needed to make absolutely sure everything is working properly,” Mr Dudouit says. “We are not ready to ‘put the foot’ down just yet and we’ll take the first stages pretty slowly at first.”
The TBM will travel at an average of 15 metres a day and with a top speed of 32 metres a day, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at peak. Next week, tunnel excavations will ramp up when the TBM starts operating 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Underground, the TBM has three tasks: cutting the spoil, removing the spoil by conveyor built to the surface, and installing the concrete segments - 14,735 in total – that will line the twin rail tunnels.
Dame Whina Cooper is 130 metres long it will not completely disappear underground until the end of June. It will breakthrough at Karangahape this spring, and at Aotea towards the end of the year. The TBM will then be moved back to Mt Eden and will start boring the second tunnel next year.
Dame Whina Cooper at CRL’s starting line after official launch
07 May 2021
Completing Auckland’s City Rail Link has taken an exciting step forward today with the official launch of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, at the project’s Mt Eden site.
Final checks are now underway before the TBM starts cutting into Auckland soil in mid-May, excavating the first of the two rail tunnels that will completely change the way people can travel around Auckland.
Transport Minister Michael Wood described the launch as an “exciting milestone” for New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project – “one,” he says, “that is helping our economic recovery and supporting jobs.
“Building infrastructure like the City Rail Link is part of our COVID-19 economic plan - this project is providing real jobs and opportunities for thousands of Aucklanders. It’ll give us a step-change in our public transport and cultivate a diverse and highly-skilled workforce,” Mr Wood says
The Transport Minister was joined by Dame Whina Cooper’s whanau, Auckland Iwi, the city’s Mayor Phil Goff and City Rail Link workers at the launch celebration.
Mayor Goff welcomed the launch of the TBM.
“When complete, the City Rail Link will transform rail travel in Tāmaki Makaurau. It will carry up to 54,000 people an hour, moving the equivalent capacity of three Auckland Harbour Bridges or 16 extra traffic lanes into and through the city at peak times,” he says.
“The official start of tunnelling represents an important milestone on Auckland’s journey towards providing a world-class, 21st century transport network.”
At exactly 8am the Minister and the Mayor entered the TBM’s control room and pressed the button to start the machine to allow its cutter head to make a couple of ceremonial revolutions.
Alongside CRL’s contribution to Auckland’s future, mining tradition also had a significant role at the event.
One tradition involved breaking a bottle of champagne on the TBM to mark its official launch. Father Christopher Denham, the Dean of Auckland’s Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph, also blessed the TBM and the teams who will operate it – an acknowledgement to St Barbara, the patron saint of miners and others who work underground.
The other significant woman acknowledged this morning was Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper. Big underground machines, by tradition, carry the name of a influential woman. New Zealanders helped the project chose Dame Whina Cooper as a fitting name for its TBM.
City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney, congratulated workers for reassembling and commissioning the TBM after its arrival in sections from China last year.
“A lot of work hours in some pretty demanding conditions have got us here today. Dame Whina Cooper will have its first encounter with some real dirt very soon, an encounter that shows the project remains on track despite the challenges thrown up by covid in the past year or so,” Dr Sweeney says.
The TBM will be operated by the Link Alliance, the group of New Zealand and international design and construct companies responsible for CRL’s main stations, tunnels and rail systems contract.
The first 50 metres of tunnel at Mt Eden have already been mined to provide room for the front sections of the 130 metre-long TBM.
Dame Whina Cooper will excavate 1.6 kilometres under the Central Motorway Junction and Karangahape Road into central Auckland to connect with the CRL tunnels already built from the Britomart Station.
The TBM has three busy jobs as its crawls below Auckland. excavating spoil, removing spoil by conveyor belt from the tunnel, and lining the tunnel walls with concrete segments.
The TBM will complete the first tunnel towards the end of the year. It will then be returned to Mt Eden in sections and prepared for its second tunnel drive next year.
The $4.4 Billion CRL project, sponsored by the Crown and Auckland Council, will make the city’s rail network more efficient. Trains will be able to run more often , more quickly and carry more people, and it will double the number of people living with 30 minutes train travel of central Auckland – New Zealand’s biggest employment hub.
11 March 2021
The 450 tonne front section, or shield, of City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has been successfully positioned in front of the Mt Eden tunnel portal after a 500-metre long drive that took one-and-a half hours to complete.
The shield was moved from the western edge of the Mt Eden site along a specially built road by a truck towing a hydraulic trailer fitted with 15 axles and 250 wheels to safely carry the shield’s weight.
“Despite this morning’s grey skies and rain, everything went smoothly. It was a very big and delicate operation but many hours of planning and all our hard work on site has paid dividends for us,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance.
“That’s only one part of the job. The next exciting phase is putting everything together. We’ll position the shield inside the first 50 metres of the CRL tunnel and connect the shield to the TBM’s “’factory’ – the 11 sections or gantries that provide the hydraulic, mechanical and electrical power the shield will need to excavate the tunnels, remove the excavated spoil, and install the precast concrete segments that will line the tunnels.”
When all the gantries are connected, Mr Dudouit says the TBM, named in honour of Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper, will undergo extensive commissioning tests and trials before to starts excavating the first of the twin CRL tunnels in late April.
The Link Alliance will operate the TBM to the new Karangahape Station and then on to the Aotea Station in the central city where it will join with the tunnels already built from the Britomart Station and under the lower end of Albert Street.
CRL’s 3.45 kilometre-long tunnels are planned to open in late 2024 and will transform Auckland’s rail network and the way people travel around the city.
07 December 2020
“Thank you Auckland” says CRL after ‘boring’ day!
The City Rail Link (CRL) and the Link Alliance are thanking Aucklanders for their support after Sunday’s successful Boring Day Out event.
Thousands of people visited CRL’s Mt Eden construction site to see up close the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) named Dame Whina Cooper, and the start of mining for twin rail tunnels that will run under central Auckland.
“I want to thank everyone who came along – to see so many smiling faces reiterated the support for our work and the engineering skills behind it,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for CRL’s Link Alliance.
“The City Rail Link is Auckland’s’ project after all, and it was great to open the construction door a wee bit to give people a sneak peek of our work to bring big transport changes to the city.”
The Link Alliance is responsible for the largest package of work for the $4.4 billion project – completing the tunnels and stations and installing the systems needed to operate the new line safely. It will operate the TBM, which will start excavating the tunnels into central Auckland next April.
TBM’s traditionally are named after an influential woman to honour St Barbara, the patron saint of miners. New Zealanders voted for CRL’s TBM to be named in honour of Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper.
Last Friday, Dame Whina’s daughter, Hinerangi Puru Cooper, led official celebrations to unveil and bless the TBM.
CRL’s “Boring Day Out” a sell out
20 November 2020
Aucklanders have now snapped up all 5000 free tickets to get up close and personal with City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM).
Tickets to the “Boring Day Out” event were available online from 10am on Thursday, 19 November, and had sold out by Friday afternoon.
At the event on 6 December 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.
“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!”
CRL’s “Boring Day Out” tickets available Thursday
18 November 2020
People wanting a close-up look at City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), Dame Whina Cooper, can get their “Boring Day Out” tickets on-line from 10am tomorrow, Thursday, 19 November.
Tickets are free and will only be available through the iTicket booking agency at, https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2020/dec/boring-day-out
A total of 5,000 tickets will be issued based on first-come first-served. People can have a maximum of five tickets each.
The Link Alliance is hosting the “Boring Day Out” on Sunday, 6 December, at its Mt Eden construction site. There will be 10 visiting sessions – the first entry is at 9am and the last at 6pm. People will need to nominate the time they want to come when booking tickets.
Because Mt Eden is a live construction site and people’s safety is a priority, visitor numbers will be restricted to 500 for each session.
The walk is 600 metres long and starts at the site entry on Ngahura Street, near New North Road.
Health and safety will be a priority on the day, says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance which is constructing CRL for City Rail Link Ltd.
“We welcome everyone who wants to take an admiring look at Dame Whina Cooper, but before booking their tickets people should be aware of the conditions of entry in place to help them have a memorable time,” Mr Dudouit says.
“While the walk is flat and we are suspending work for the day, Mt Eden remains a construction site and care will be needed walking around it.”
The TBM is being reassembled on site and its huge front section, known as the shield, will be on display. The shield and its cutter head will do most of the heavy excavation below Auckland.
People will also see the southern tunnel portal where Dame Whina Cooper will start its underground journey next year to complete construction of the two CRL tunnels.
Mr Dudouit says there is strong interest from Aucklanders wanting to see the TBM and he reminds people to check the conditions of entry that will be listed on the iTicket website.
Event information:
There will be 10 visiting sessions on 6 December. The first entry is at 9am and the final one at 6pm. Visitor numbers will be restricted to 500 for each session.
Tickets are free and people can book up to five tickets per person.
People with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams/pushchairs and walking sticks are welcome.
Entry to the Mt Eden site will be via Ngahura Street near New North Road. Parking on site is limited to people with mobility parking permits.
People are encouraged to use public transport to travel to the event. They can plan their trip online using Auckland Transport’s Journey Planner at www.at.govt.nz. Bikes, scooters, skateboards, and other wheel-operated transport with the exception of mobility scooters, will not be allowed inside the event.
Although bikes and wheel operated transport equipment isn’t allowed in the event site, we also encourage people to ride your wheels! Our friends at Bike Auckland are providing their Bike Valet Service for the day.
Closed toe and flat shoes must be worn, and people should be prepared for dust and loud noises.
No food or drink is allowed but people are encouraged to support local businesses before and after the event.
The event is weather dependent and may be cancelled if Covid-19 alert levels change. Everyone must sign-in to the event using the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 tracer app or by physically signing in.
Haere mai! City Rail Link welcomes early Christmas “gift”
21 October 2020
City Rail Link’s latest “employee” – the tunnel boring machine (TBM) known as Dame Whina Cooper – has arrived in Auckland after a voyage of more than nine thousand kilometres from its factory in southern China.
The machine to excavate the rail tunnels for New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project arrived in sections on board the BBC Orion and will now be trucked to the City Rail Link site in Mt Eden for reassembly.
“It’s a bit like getting a very early Christmas present,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for CRL’s Link Alliance. “Every part of the tunnel boring machine was neatly boxed away or bundled up in protective wrapping, and while we may know exactly what we’re getting there’s still plenty of excitement to come opening up everything and putting it all together again.”
City Rail Link Ltd’s (CRL Ltd) Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney, says the TBM’s arrival signals an important transition for the project.
“A lot of our work until now has focussed on getting ready for the heavy work ahead. The building blocks are in place and the arrival of Dame Whina Cooper marks a symbolic crossover from those enabling works to the complex and hefty job of finishing our tunnels and stations – construction is ramping up quickly,” Dr Sweeney says.
Dame Whina Cooper also arrives with a Christmas dividend for Aucklanders. The project is planning an open day in December to allow people a close-up look of the machine that will help transform the way they can travel around the city.
“It’s a chance for us to say, ‘thank you’, for the fantastic support we get from the community, and to explain the work of the project’s very clever mechanical star and the big changes it is going to bring to Auckland,” Dr Sweeney says.
Further details of the open day will be announced next month.
Over the next few days a small convoy of trucks will transport the TBM from the port to Mt Eden, where it will be reassembled and retested before it starts tunnelling next year.
“The TBM was thoroughly tested before leaving China, but there will be further checks on site. It is very advanced technologically and we want to make sure we have a concrete-solid machine in place and ready to do the job it has been specifically designed for – operating in Auckland’s unique soil conditions to build CRL’s rail tunnels,” Mr Dudouit says.
The Link Alliance - the group of New Zealand and international companies building the substantive tunnels and stations contract for CRL Ltd – will use the TBM to excavate two 1.6-kilometre-long tunnels from Mt Eden to the CBD to link with the tunnels already dug from Britomart Station. The TBM has been designed to also remove tunnel spoil and install concrete segments to line those very tunnels.
Work will start later this week on the excavation of the first 51 metres of the tunnel at Mt Eden. The excavation of the cavern and trench provides room for the TBM to be fitted into position to take over mining.
TBM tunnelling is due to start next April. Before then, mining conventions will be observed when the reassembled TBM is blessed and formally named Dame Whina Cooper. Big machines working underground are traditionally named after inspirational women. Earlier this year New Zealanders voted for the TBM to be named in honour of the Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper.
When tunnel excavation starts people will be able to keep track of Dame Whina Cooper’s progress. An on-line link will measure the TBM’s journey below Auckland in real time.
On its way! TBM passes big factory tests
20 August 2020
New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project is celebrating a significant milestone – Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) has formally accepted ownership of its big Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) after extensive factory tests in China.
“The successful factory assessment tests and the handover of the TBM to the Link Alliance is a very clear and strong indication that the CRL project can meet critical milestones in a Covid-19 world,” says Dr Sean Sweeney, Chief Executive of City Rail Link Ltd.
The tests were conducted on the fully constructed TBM by the German manufacturer, Herrenknecht, at its factory at Guangzhou in southern China.
“The TBM successfully underwent more than 500 tests to make sure everything works as it should. There is now great excitement that we are ready for the next step – to bring the TBM to Auckland,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for CRL’s Link Alliance.
Rigorous checks tested the TBM’s three big jobs underground: excavating the tunnels, transporting tonnes of excavated spoil to the surface, and installing the thousands of concrete panels that will line the tunnels.
“It is a unique, world class machine – an underground factory – purpose built to carve its way through Auckland’s sticky soil,” Mr Dudouit says. “Just about everything that moves was tested to make sure it can do the transformational job it’s been designed for.”
The TBM will be used by the Link Alliance - the group of New Zealand and international companies building the substantive tunnels and stations contract for City Rail Link Ltd - to excavate two tunnels side by side between Mt Eden and central Auckland to connect with cut-and-cover tunnels already constructed from Britomart Station.
The Link Alliance describes the TBM as big by international standards for rail projects. The revolving cutter head at the front of the TBM is 7.15 metres – slightly taller than one of Auckland Zoo’s adult giraffes – weighs 910 tonnes – that is roughly the equivalent of nine blue whales, the largest animal ever known to have existed – and at 130 metres stretches the length of a rugby field.
The TBM is now being dismantled and will be shipped in pieces to New Zealand. It is due to arrive in October. The arrival has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic which forced the closure for several weeks earlier this year of the factory in China.
The TBM will be reassembled at CRL’s Mt Eden site, where it will undergo further testing and be officially blessed for safe journeys before it starts the first of its two excavation drives next April. Both tunnels are one-point-six kilometres long and each TBM drive will take about nine months.
Mining tradition will be observed before the start of tunnelling when the TBM is formally named after an inspirational woman. Earlier this year New Zealanders voted for the TBM to be named in honour of the Māori rights champion, Dame Whina Cooper.
The Naming Announcement
06 May 2020
City Rail Link’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will share the name of one of New Zealand’s most inspirational leaders, Dame Whina Cooper, a woman who spent most of an illustrious life leading the fight for social justice and land rights for Māori.
Dame Whina Cooper’s name topped a nationwide poll ahead of internationally recognised Antarctic scientist, Dr Margaret Bradshaw, and the world’s first elected openly transgender mayor and Member of Parliament, Georgina Beyer.
“The project is both proud and honoured that our TBM will carry the name of a woman of such mana – Dame Whina Cooper,” said City Rail Link Ltd’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney.
“We were looking for the name of a New Zealand woman who inspired - brave, compassionate and fearless - and all those outstanding leadership qualities are well and truly represented by the very remarkable Dame Whina Cooper.” Dame Whina’s family welcomes their mother’s new association with a project that will bring many changes to the Auckland she had called her home for many years.
“Mum was very much a people person,” says Dame Whina’s daughter Hinerangi Puru Cooper.
“She had so much energy and was heavily involved in community projects across Auckland. But to us she was just mum.” Dame Whina was born in 1895 at Panguru, Northland, and died in 1994. She began her first campaigns for Māori as a teenager before moving to Auckland in 1949 where she was identified as one of the “100 Makers of Auckland” in a book featuring influential people who helped develop the city.
Dame Whina was the first president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League and played a significant role in improving Māori living conditions across New Zealand.
In 1975 aged 80, she led a land rights march from the Far North to Parliament. She was made a Dame in 1981 and was awarded the country’s highest honour, the Order of New Zealand, in 1991. Dame Whina, Dr Bradshaw and Ms Beyer were the shortlisted finalists selected from more than 300 women’s names nominated by New Zealanders.
Around 3,500 participated in the competition with Dame Whina Cooper securing just under 50 per cent of the final total vote.
“I am grateful to all New Zealanders for their support and their nominations and votes, particularly at a time when we were all grappling with a pandemic. I would also like to thank Dr Bradshaw and Ms Beyer for allowing their names to be considered for our TBM.” Dr Sweeney said.
Tradition dictates that a TBM must have a woman’s name - a sign of good luck and safety for the project ahead and an acknowledgement to Saint Barbara, the patron saint of those who work underground.
CRL’s TBM is due to arrive in kitset sections from China in October.
It will be reassembled at the Link Alliance project site at Mt Eden. The newly named Dame Whina Cooper TBM will be blessed before the Link Alliance starts the first of two 1.6-kilometre underground excavations from Mt Eden to the Aotea Station in the central city to connect with the twin tunnels already built from Britomart Station and under Albert Street.