City Rail Link Livestream Tunnel Breakthrough

On 14 September 2022, history was made beneath Auckland’s city streets as the City Rail Link Tunnel Boring Machine broke through to the new Te Waihorotiu Station, completing the twin tunnels of New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project. Edwards, the long-standing AV partner of City Rail Link, was on hand to live stream the milestone event to a global audience and transform the raw, underground station into a unique event venue. With uplighting and projection tailored to the industrial setting, and careful planning to meet tight access and safety requirements, Edwards delivered a striking, stress-free experience that left guests in awe.

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), live 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.”

* The City Rail Link Alliance is led by Vinci Construction Grands Projects and includes another Vinci Construction subsidiary Soletanche Bachy International along with Downer, Aecom, WSP-Opus and Tonkin & Taylor.

Or, Contact Us to start the discussion on your live streaming event requirements!