TBM Alice, one of the largest TBM's ever used in the Southern Hemisphere, completed its work on the Waterview Connection, a link in a motorway network through the city of Auckland, between the suburbs of Waterview and Owairaka.

Work on the twin three-lane tunnels, the longest road tunnels in the country, began in 2013, and the first tunnel was completed in September 2014. Alice was then turned 180 degrees to complete the second drive. Alice drilled two tunnels each 2.4 km long and installed more than 24,000 concrete segments to line both tunnels. Over the coming months Alice will be  taken apart and returned to Herrenknecht.

To complete both tunnels, sixteen cross passages linking the two tunnels are being constructed, equipment to safely operate the tunnels together with lighting and signage are being fitted, walls and the ceiling are being painted, and back-filling will continue before the motorway asphalt is laid. The NZTA plans to open the tunnels and the giant interchange to connect Auckland’s Northwestern and Southwestern Motorways (State Highways 16 and 20) in early 2017.

Click here and nz/16 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit www.nzta.govt.nz. 45/15.