Waterview Connection: TBM Alice has started its second drive

Quelle/credit (2): Herrenknecht

At the end of September, the cutting wheel of TBM „Alice“ broke through the target shaft wall for the first time

Quelle/credit (2): Herrenknecht

Quelle/credit: Herrenknecht

The target shaft in the north lies immediately adjacent to the motorway to be connected later. For this reason, after the breakthrough the shield and the first back-up had to be turned in a space of only 25 by 39 m

Quelle/credit: Herrenknecht

Quelle/credit: New Zealand Transport Agency

Waterview Connection tunnel longitudinal section

Quelle/credit: New Zealand Transport Agency

Quelle/credit : Herrenknecht

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key (center) visited the tunnel construction site in May 2014

Quelle/credit : Herrenknecht

Quelle/credit: Herrenknecht

The EPB Shield S-764 was assembled in the Herrenknecht plant in Guangzhou, China. Core components such as the main drive, hydraulic station, electrical station and air locks were manfactured at Herrenknecht‘s headquarters in Schwanau, Germany

Quelle/credit: Herrenknecht

In mid-December 2014, one of the world‘s largest tunnel boring machines started its second drive for the large-scale “Waterview Connection” project in Auckland, New Zealand. In the heart of the metropolis, the Herrenknecht EPB Shield S-764 is creating the shell for a road tunnel that will link two of the main State Highways together. In March 2013, Herrenknecht delivered the TBM to the companies Fletcher Construction, McConnell Dowell and Obayashi.

The tunnel boring machine Alice – named after the main character of “Alice in Wonderland” – excavated the first 2.4 km long tunnel in just eleven months, with best performances of 126 m per week and 452 m per month. On September 29 the boring shield with a diameter of 14.46 m finally broke through the wall to the first target shaft in Waterview.

“This is a fantastic achievement. Our construction partners on the Well-Connected Alliance completed the breakthrough safely and ahead of schedule,” Brett Gliddon, New Zealand Transport Agency’s Highway Manager, said afterwards. “It is a huge...