In the early evening of the 14/09/2022 TBM Dame Whina Cooper (weight 910 t, length 130m and diameter 7.15m) reached the Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) completing the second tunnel of the Auckland's metro, the first underground Metro in New Zealand: click here for the breakthrough video.  

The TBM completed the first tube just before Christmas 2021 and was then dismantled, returned to Maungawhau / Mount Eden Station and reassembled to excavate the second tube. 

It tool a little over 12 months to drive the twin tunnels 3.45km up to 45 m below ground from Maungawhau/Mt Eden Station to Te Waihorotiu Station, excavate 2 stations and 1 cavern, come back to Mt Eden and relaunch. The TBM placed 1067 segment rings and removed 130,000 t of spoil during the boring of the twin tunnels 

Now the tunnels are built the TBM will be dismantled, lifted above ground, transported to the port for shipping back to its manufacturer, Herrenknecht where parts of it will be repurposed. Now the Link Alliance - the consortia of companies building the CRL – will start putting in the tunnels, all the tracks and railway systems. For further information Click here and nz/15 for the tunnelbuilder archive, click here for updates on the project and also visit https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/. 37/22.