By lyndamyer
Completion of the mined tunneling on Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) project, was done by Link Alliance.
The final mined tunnel section with 99.5m length and known as the cavern, adjacent to where the TBM broke through on its second CRL tunnel drive in 2022 has been completed by tunneling crews.
In order to completing the Maungawhau Station three types of tunneling, including digging by the 7.15m diameter Herrenknecht TBM Dame Whina Cooper, cut-and-cover tunneling as well as SCL mined tunneling, has been used and latest milestone marks the end of all tunneling on this station.
The quantity of excavated spoil by crews over the 2.5 years of mining 296m of tunnels was around 15,000m3, while they used almost 10,000m3 of concrete and shotcrete and installed around 250 tons of steel and 4,500m2 of waterproofing membrane.
Currently the fit-out of the mined tunnels, including electrical works, signaling, ventilation and installation of the rail tracks are the undergoing works.
As New Zealand’s first underground rail network, CRL comprises a 3.45km twin-tunnel underground rail link up to 42m beneath Auckland city center. It is due to transform the existing downtown Waitemata Station into a two-way through-station that better connects the city’s rail network.
Delivery of CRL’s main tunnels, stations and rail systems contract is up to the Link Alliance of City Rail Link Ltd, Vinci Construction Grands Projets, Downer NZ, Soletanche Bachy International NZ, WSP NZ, Aecom New Zealand, and Tonkin + Taylor.
