Quick links…
Ōtāhuhu footbridge and stairs installed
D-walls start for Karangahape Station
Station closure means work can ramp up
D-wall construction starting at Aotea
Piling starts at Aotea
Tree planting starts in lower Albert Street
Roof poured on Britomart Station’s plant rooms
Work resumes after Covid-19 lockdown
Traffic deck removed
Key CBD intersection closed
Piling rig at Mt Eden
The CRL is the largest single transport infrastructure project in New Zealand's history.
It has been a vision for Auckland since the 1920s. You can read about the history here.
BREAKTHROUGH: In December 2018, CRL celebrated a major milestone with the breakthrough from the Albert Street tunnels to CRL tunnels across the Commercial Bay site, Downtown Auckland
IT'S ALL GO! Then AT Chair Lester Levy, Auckland Mayor Len Brown, Prime Minister Sir John Key and Transport Minister Simon Bridges at the historic groundbreaking ceremony for the CRL in Downtown Auckland June 2016
Here we list the big milestones in 2020.
Follow the links at the bottom of the page for milestones in previous years of the Project.
The Year in Review
Te Komititanga opens
18 December 2020
Auckland’s new public square outside the former Chief Post Office (Britomart Transport Centre) has opened. It is called Te Komititanga which means ‘to mix’ or ‘to merge’.
It has been delivered as part of the City Rail Link C1 Contract which includes new underground rail tunnels between Britomart and Albert Street and the restoration of the Chief Post Office which will house the Britomart Transport Centre.
Mana whenua blessed Te Komititanga before the Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff officially cut the ribbon.
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Blessing and open day for the public
04 December 2020
BLESSING: From left Auckand Mayor Phil Goff, Hinerangi Puru Cooper, and deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson
The big Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was named after Māori rights champion Dame Whina Cooper.
Dame Whina’s daughter, Hinerangi Puru Cooper, and her wider family were present at the unveiling and blessing of the TBM at the Mt Eden construction site. They were joined by Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, Transport Minister Michael Wood, the city’s Mayor Phil Goff, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and other Auckland Iwi who sit on CRL’s Mana Whenua Forum, and community, transport and CRL representatives.
Hinerangi said she was honoured and humbled to be present at the unveiling and had a special message for CRL workers. “I will say a prayer before you start your work – I want you to be safe – and I know my mother will be there with you.”
Only the front section of the TBM, called the cutter head, was unveiled. The rest of the machine was still being assembled by the Link Alliance, which has the main CRL tunnel, stations and rail systems package - at the Mt Eden site after arriving in sections from China.
On the Sunday after the blessing, 5000 Aucklanders had obtained free tickets to visit the Mt Eden construction site and see the TBM close up.
Mining to start at Mt Eden site
04 November 2020
Mining tradition hundreds of years old was observed at dawn when a statue of St Barbara, the patron saint of miners, was blessed and placed in a small shrine near the tunnel entrance at the City Rail Link Mt Eden site.
“We are a very modern project, but the old traditions remain important - welcoming St Barbara is a significant event for the team that will mine the tunnels,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for CRL’s Link Alliance. “Ceremonies like this have been repeated all over the world for centuries wherever people go to work underground. St Barbara is their guardian, and her presence gives assurance that they will be safe below ground.”
St Barbara was an early convert to Christianity who was discovered hiding underground and killed by her pagan father.
The blessing was led by the Most Reverend Michael Gielen, Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland for the Catholic Church.
The blessing, observed by Link Alliance workers kitted out in hard hats and protective clothing for the start of their day’s shift, is one that usually precedes the start of any new tunnelling or mining project (a statue of St Barbara also protects workers building the Karangahape underground station).
TBM arrives in port
21 October 2020
The Tunnel Boring Machine arrived at Auckland port after the 9000-kilometre sea journey from a southern China factory (seen here leaving China).
CRL Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney, says this marks an important transition for the project.
“A lot of our work until now has focused on getting ready for the heavy work ahead. The building blocks are in place and this arrival marks a symbolic crossover from those enabling works to the complex and hefty job of finishing our tunnels and stations.”
The TBM arrived in sections on board the BBC Orion to be trucked to the Mt Eden construction site for reassembly.
Mercury D-walls completed
20 October 2020
Link Alliance workers have completed the D-walls at Mercury Lane. In total, 26 D-wall panels have been installed below ground to form the station box.
These reinforced concrete panels known as diaphragm walls (d-walls) are part of the building’s permanent underground walls.
The panels range in depth from 15 to 31 metres .
The photo shows the reinforcing cage for the last of the D-wall panels being lowered into the trench.
D-wall construction is scheduled to start in Beresford Square in three weeks, where Link Alliance will install 30 panels ranging in depth from 18 to 39 metres.
C2 (lower end of Albert St) completed
16 October 2020
The Connectus team celebrating the end of the streetscape works in the lower end of Albert Street.
Aotea roof
17 September 2020
This morning Link Alliance poured the first section of the concrete roof of Aotea Station, in the centre of the Wellesley St/Albert St intersection.
This first pour takes around six hours, using 35 concrete trucks! With the diaphragm (structural) walls and the roof in this particular section complete, utilities can be laid across the top and eventually the earth beneath will be excavated.
This is known as “top-down” construction where the walls and roof are constructed first from ground level, after which excavation of the train station box can commence.
On its way! TBM passes big factory tests
20 August 2020
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 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.
Ōtāhuhu footbridge and stairs installed
21 July 2020
It was a challenge but took only seven hours during the night for the CRL team and associated partners to achieve the milestone of installing a new footbridge and stairs at the Ōtāhuhu station.
This was a challenging task requiring stringent health and safety measures to be in place, carried out successfully while maintaining southern line rail operation. The scale, extent and complexity of this type of construction would normally require a weekend closure of the line, however careful planning enabled these works to be carried out in a night shift.
CRL’s contractor, Libbet was responsible for the installation of the new footbridge and associated stairs and KiwiRail’s contractor, Alpha Rail manage all aspects of the overhead works.
D-walls start for Karangahape Station
16 July 2020
Construction of the station’s Diaphragm walls (D-walls) in Mercury Lane has begun. These perimeter walls are the first permanent elements of the station to be built, so it’s a big deal for the team.
The construction process involves a grab rig excavating through clay to the rock layer 10-metres beneath the surface. A hydrofraise machine then uses twin cutting heads to excavate a further 20-meters, to a depth of 30-metres. Throughout the process bentonite slurry is pumped through the excavation to provide positive pressure, ensuring the trench remains stable.
The next step sees a steel reinforcing cage lowered into the trench. Concrete is then poured through a pipe into the bottom of the trench, displacing the bentonite which is pumped back into the bentonite plant.
In total 26, D-wall panels will form the ‘station box’ for Karangahape Station at Mercury Lane.
Station closure means work can ramp up
08 July 2020
Mt Eden’s ‘big build’ for the City Rail Link (CRL) project will ramp up when the Mt Eden train station and its access points close on Saturday (11 July).
The nationwide Covid-19 lockdown has delayed the station’s closure by some five weeks.
“We’re now clear to get cracking on a number of construction fronts to transform Mt Eden and wider Auckland,” says Dale Burtenshaw, Deputy Project Director for CRL’s Link Alliance.
“We’ve already taken measures, including bumping up shift hours, to help maintain construction momentum so that Aucklanders can use their brand-new station as planned in 2024.”
Mt Eden’s construction footprint is extensive. It includes the relocation and large-scale redevelopment of the station, launching the project’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), removing dirt from the TBM’s excavations, constructing new overbridges, and connecting the CRL tunnels with the Western Line rail corridor.
“Our construction site will be huge, complex and busy – 500 will be working there at our peak,” Mr Burtenshaw says. “Sunday’s closure is necessary because there will be no safe way for trains and people to continue to use the Mt Eden Station.”
The intensified programme of work includes the use of a larger than life piling rig. The hefty machine is the largest in New Zealand - 26 metres long, 27 metres high and weighs an estimated 110 tonnes. It will be used to build a retaining wall alongside the main railway line. Local schoolchildren have been asked to name the rig before it starts work in August. A smaller rig is already in action driving concrete piles between 38 metres and eight metres long into the ground to support a 127-metre-long retaining wall for CRL‘s southern tunnel portal.
Deep trenches are being excavated in front of the portal. One will be used as the launching pad for Dame Whina Cooper, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) arriving from China later this year. When the TBM has mined two tunnels through to central Auckland, both trenches will connect CRL to the Western Line and the new Mt Eden Station. Four new overbridges will be built. Two are road-over-rail links – one replacing the existing Normanby Road level crossing and the other a duplicate to sit beside the existing Mt Eden Road bridge.
The other two overbridges are dedicated for pedestrians and cyclists at Porters Avenue and between Fenton and Ngahura streets. Excluding tunnel excavations, 20-thousand cubic metres of volcanic basalt and 160-thousand cubic metres of dirt will be removed from the site. More than 50-thousand cubic metres of concrete and over 10-thousand tonnes of steel will be used in the rebuild.
“When you look at the size of the construction programme it’s both a breath-taking and an exciting challenge that will make a huge difference to Auckland’s future,” Mr Burtenshaw says. Despite the scale and scope of work, Mr Burtenshaw says the Link Alliance is committed to minimising disruption and to keeping neighbours safe and informed. Strict protocols will be in place regarding traffic management, noise, vibration and dust.
D-wall construction starting at Aotea
23 June 2020
First steps were taken today to construct Aotea underground station in central Auckland.
Transport Minister, Phil Twyford, and Auckland’s Mayor, Phil Goff, donned hard hats and protective jackets to oversee a ceremonial start to work that clears the way for the first of the station’s walls. They switched on a 90-tonne ground cutting machine known as a hydrofraise that will make first cuts in the ground for the walls. Mr Twyford says the event marks a further big step forward for CRL.
The first walls for the Aotea station are being built outside the Auckland Council’s offices at the Wellesley Street/Albert Street/Mayoral Drive intersection. Mayor Goff says the station will transform the city centre.
Preparations are being finalised for the start of wall construction next week when the twin rotating blades on the hydrofraise will cut narrow trenches into the ground. The trenches will eventually be filled with concrete for diaphragm or D-walls that will support the station. Most of the station’s foundation walls will be D-walls - in total, 152 panels will be installed up to 21 metres deep Aotea’s walls and roof are being constructed first and dirt will then be removed for the station platforms and concourse. Working top-down will reduce the impact of construction at street level.
The Wellesley Street intersection closed earlier this year so that utilities could be moved before station construction started. Aotea’s hydrofraise is a CRL “veteran” and was used earlier on the CRL project inside and outside the Chief Post Office heritage building at Britomart in Lower Queen Street. The machine is named Sandrine in honour of a woman who has worked for a CRL contractor.
Piling starts at Aotea
15 June 2020
Piling has started on the Aotea Station construction site. Piles are vertical concrete columns that go deep into the ground forming the support structure for the perimeter walls of the underground station and tunnels.
When the piling rig breaks the ground, soil is excavated, and a pile casing (metal support structure) put in place. When the desired depth is reached, a reinforcement cage is placed into the hole and concrete is poured in. All piles are joined together at the top by a capping beam.
Aotea Station will have over 400 piles, each around 20 metres deep and one metre in diameter.
Tree planting starts in lower Albert Street
08 June 2020
A more modern and attractive Albert Street is well on its way after a pōhutukawa tree planting at lunchtime.
Auckland Mayor, Phil Goff, and #crl #cityraillink Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney (right), planted the first of 23 mature native trees- totara, golden totara, pōhutukawa, black marie and puriri - that will line a new-look Albert Street between the Wyndham and Customs Street intersections.
Albert Street’s restoration follows construction of twin rail tunnels below the surface of the road.
Dr Sweeney says other improvements include wider footpaths, new lighting and street furniture, open spaces, improvements for cyclists, and dedicated bus bays to support public transport at road level. These people-friendly improvements will be completed at the end of this year.
Roof poured on Britomart Station’s plant rooms
31 May 2020
The roof has been poured on Britomart Station’s plant rooms.
The plant rooms are part of Britomart Station’s new basement, which extends into Lower Queen St approximately 14m past the building façade line.
The new basement is around 190 square metres in size and is located above the CRL city rail link tunnels in Lower Queen Street.
The extra basement space was required to house additional equipment needed to run Britomart Station due to the CRL.
The roof pour for the basement is a major milestone for the CRL project as it marks the completion of the heavy external concrete work at Britomart Station.
With the plant rooms and tunnels now sealed, the contractor will focus on backfilling above them and construct the Lower Queen Street plaza.
Construction continues inside the Chief Post Office building to fit out Britomart Station for reopening. CRL’s Jhon Aragon says: “It’s fantastic to see the roof go on to the basement. This milestone means we have a building site which is completely closed in and dry which will help our productivity.”
Work resumes after Covid-19 lockdown
12 May 2020
The Covid-19 lockdown resulted in no construction work being undertaken for five weeks.
However, during the level 4 lockdown, work on the project still pushed ahead with a lot of crucial work completed from home - including building consents, designs and planning - which enabled the project to be able to come out of the starting blocks quickly.
“I think we have come out of the lockdown pretty well – apparently faster than most projects – but one thing is certain, Covid-19’s legacy means CRL is now going to be a very different project than it was two months ago,” says City Rail Link’s Chief Executive, Dr Sean Sweeney.
Even with a strong restart, Dr Sweeney says the challenges of Covid-19 are unprecedented and the project must do all it can to respond to these, keep the project on track, and support the economic recovery of New Zealand.
“This pandemic is a 1-in-a -100-year event – something that none of us could have anticipated. I’m proud of what the project has been able to achieve in these different and uncertain times. But we still have to keep finding ways to respond and adapt to a very different way of working for who knows how long.
“This project plays a key role in the economic recovery post-Covid-19. The scale of CRL means there is so much we can do right now and into the future to create much needed jobs and to help get the economy pumping again.”
Dr Sweeney says Covid-19 has presented a number of challenges to the project including delays related to no work, planned April closures to advance construction could not go ahead, and more than 40 project workers remain overseas unable to get to New Zealand.
As well, stringent new health and safety protocols impact on the way CRL’s construction sites work – access is restricted, self-distancing rules must be observed, more protective clothing is needed, and sanitising and cleansing regimes are in place.
“The project is taking a number of steps to respond to these challenges and maintain construction momentum, help kickstart the economy and get this important project delivered as quickly as possible,” Dr Sweeney says.
From next Monday (18 May), Link Alliance will implement double shifts and extend working hours for up to 16 hours a day at its Mt Eden and Karangahape sites - 7am to 10pm Monday-to-Friday, and 7am to 7pm Saturday. Existing work hours are 7am-7pm Monday-to-Friday and 7am-2pm Saturday.
Traffic deck removed
13 March 2020
Connectus (the McConnell Dowell and Downer Joint Venture team) has removed the last section of the construction and traffic deck on the eastern side of Albert Street, between Mills Lane and Customs Street.
The construction and traffic deck was used as a suspended bridge for traffic and construction vehicles over the trench during the construction of the twin tunnels.
Now that the bridge is removed, the team can complete the backfilling of the trench, demolish the last remaining section of the capping beam, and start construction of the enhanced road and wider footpath.
Key CBD intersection closed
01 March 2020
The Wellesley St/Albert St/Mayoral Drive intersection has closed this morning. This is needed so that the Link Alliance can start building the Aotea train station.
Temporary footpaths are installed so that you can still walk through and around the intersection and businesses there remain open – but buses have changed routes and motorists will be affected.
Piling rig at Mt Eden
13 February 2020
A function was held today to mark the piling rig established on the Mt Eden construction site.
Dale Burtenshaw, Deputy Alliance Project Director for the Link Alliance, explains the status of work around the Mt Eden train station where a tunnel portal is about to be built for the big tunnel boring machine to excavate the tunnels.
