Waterview highway tunnel progress

18 October, 2015: TBM Alice has broken through the headwall of the Southern Approach Trench to complete the second and final bore of the NZ$1.4 billion Waterview highway bypass project in Auckland. Following initial TBM launch in November 2013, first breakthrough was achieved at the northern end of the 2.4km alignment in September last year (2014). The 14.4m Herrenknecht EPBM procured for the project is the largest machine ever used in New Zealand.

References

Managing progress at Waterview – TunnelTalk, March 2015
Tail seal issues fail to slow Auckland mega-TBM – TunnelTalk, October 2014
Ramping up mega-TBM progress in Auckland – TunnelTalk, February 2014
Tracking the world's mega-TBMs – TunnelTalk, Discussion Forum

Snapshot

Waterview highway tunnel progress

Ben Winter reporting for TunnelCast
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Project delivery: The Well Connected Alliance, comprising NZ Transportation Agency (NZTA), with tunnel contractors McConnell Dowell, Obayashi and Fletcher
Tunnel details: Twin highway tunnels of 2.4km
TBM: 14.4m diameter Herrenknecht EPBM - 10th largest in the world
Pressure tolerance: Design specification 6 bar Maximum so far - 2.2 bar
Advance rates: Best day - 36m
Day average - 14m
Segmental lining: Precast steel fibre reinforced segments 2m wide rings x 450mm thick
Interviewees: Peter Spies, Project Manager, NZTA
Chris Ashton, Alliance Tunnel Manager