On the 17/10/2021 Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) celebrated a mighty milestone with its TBM Dame Whina Cooper, breaking through 32 m below ground into the Karangahape Station construction site at the end of its 860-m-long journey from Mt Eden.  

The pandemic has had serious impacts on the project costs and construction timings. New Zealand’s recent five-week-long covid lockdown delayed the TBM’s planned September breakthrough. 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.  

Link Alliance reached Karangahape in great shape well ahead of its rescheduled time in November . The TBM was running sweetly at a rate higher than planned during its drive under Spaghetti Junction on the motorway.  

Click here for the video,  here and nz/15 for the tunnelbuilder archive updates on the project and also visit https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/. 42/21.