On 14 September 2022, the City Rail Link Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) broke through to the Auckland midtown Te Waihorotiu Station (Aotea) - marking the end of the construction of the twin CRL tunnels.
Edwards, long time audio-visual partner of City Rail Link (CRL), streamed the action to a national and international audience and transformed the Te Waihorotiu Station into an atmospheric event space. The two hundred guests were treated to a live projection of the breakthrough in the beautified still under construction station, with uplights highlighting the raw finish on the station walls.
Access was challenging - a very narrow construction site underground down a number of narrow stairs – but Edwards were on home territory, “Link Alliance* has worked with Edwards on two previous tunnel breakthroughs,” explains Amanda Petherick, former Campaigns and Events Specialist. “They are very familiar with the construction industry and understood our health and safety requirements, and the need to be reactive as required in a live construction environment.”
Amanda worked with Ed Smith, Edwards Hire Manager on the concept, “We knew what we wanted and had big dreams and Edwards made it happen. It was a fantastic event with many of the attendees commenting that they couldn’t believe that they were on a construction site.”
“Edwards were very reliable and practical. They get in there and get the job done so the audio-visual aspect was largely stress free. It was honestly one of the most memorable events I have delivered.”
Some TBM facts!
- This is the TBM’s final of four official breakthroughs for the City Rail Link project.
- In 2019, Kiwis were asked to name the TBM after a ground-breaking Kiwi wahine (woman) in a national competition. Kiwis chose Dame Whina Cooper in honour of the Maori rights champion who led the famous hikoi to Parliament in 1975.
- The Dame Whina Cooper TBM weighs 910 tonnes, is 130-metres long, and has a diameter of 7.15 metres.
* The City Rail Link Alliance is led by Vinci Construction Grands Projets and includes another Vinci Construction subsidiary Soletanche Bachy International along with Downer, Aecom, WSP-Opus and Tonkin & Taylor.
