The Waterview Tunnel is a twin road tunnel in central
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand. At long, it is New Zealand's longest road tunnel. The tunnel, with three lanes of road vehicle traffic in each direction, connects
State Highway 20 in the south at
Mount Roskill
Mount Roskill is a suburban area in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is named for the volcanic peak Puketāpapa (commonly called "Mount Roskill" in English).
Description
The suburb, named after the Mount, is located seven kilometres to ...
to
State Highway 16 in the west at
Point Chevalier
Point Chevalier (; commonly known as Point Chev and an original colonial name of Point Bunbury after Thomas Bunbury) is a residential suburb and peninsula in the city of Auckland in the north of New Zealand. It is located five kilometres to ...
as part of the
Waterview Connection
The Waterview Connection is a motorway section through west/central Auckland, New Zealand. It connects State Highway 20 in the south at Mt Roskill to State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier, and is a part of the Western Ring Route. ...
. Its opening completed the
Western Ring Route
The Western Ring Route is a motorway system being constructed in Auckland, New Zealand. It currently runs along (from south to north) the entire Southwestern Motorway (State Highway 20), most of the Northwestern Motorway (part of SH 16), the ...
motorway system.
Planning history
'The project had an extensive planning history, with the earliest consultation in 2000, though the proposal for a route roughly in the area dates from much earlier.
Purpose
The Waterview Tunnel completed the
Western Ring Route
The Western Ring Route is a motorway system being constructed in Auckland, New Zealand. It currently runs along (from south to north) the entire Southwestern Motorway (State Highway 20), most of the Northwestern Motorway (part of SH 16), the ...
which provides a second route through Auckland. For those travelling from North to South (or vice versa) the route enables users to bypass the city centre and reduces reliance on
SH1 and the
Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and th ...
. It also provides a direct motorway link from the central city through to
Auckland Airport
Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of th ...
, a route which has in the past relied on the use of local roads.
Project alliance
The Waterview Tunnel and greater
Waterview Connection
The Waterview Connection is a motorway section through west/central Auckland, New Zealand. It connects State Highway 20 in the south at Mt Roskill to State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier, and is a part of the Western Ring Route. ...
project was delivered by the
Well-Connected Alliance. This was a partnership between the
NZ Transport Agency
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (commonly known as Waka Kotahi, and abbreviated as NZTA) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, an ...
,
Fletcher Construction
The Fletcher Construction Company Limited is a New Zealand construction company and a subsidiary of Fletcher Building. Together with Higgins Contractors Ltd it makes up the Construction division of Fletcher Building. Fletcher Construction is wid ...
,
McConnell Dowell
McConnell Dowell is a major infrastructure construction company founded in New Zealand in 1961. In 2003 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Aveng, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa.
History
McConnell Dowell was ...
,
Parsons Brinckerhoff
WSP USA, formerly WSP, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. WSP stands for Williams Sale Partnership. The firm operates in the fields of strategic con ...
,
Beca Infrastructure,
Tonkin+Taylor, and
Obayashi Corporation
is one of five major Japanese construction companies along with Shimizu Corporation, Takenaka Corporation, Kajima Corporation, and Taisei Corporation. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is one of the Nikkei 225 corporations. Its head ...
.
Wilson Tunnelling and
SICE were sub-alliance partners.
Construction
Concrete lining
A purpose-built factory was constructed in
East Tāmaki
East Tāmaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of ...
to produce the 2414 concrete rings needed to line the tunnels. Each ring is two metres wide (length) and 14 metres in diameter. They consist of 10 precast segments, each of which weighs 10.5 tonnes. Five rejected segments were used to create a Soldiers Memorial on the Village Green at
Te Kauwhata
Te Kauwhata is a small town in the north of the Waikato region of New Zealand, situated close to the western shore of Lake Waikare, some 40 km north of Hamilton and approximately 58 km south of Manukau City.
Description
''Te Kau ...
.
Tunnel boring machine
![Alice the Tunnel Boring Machine 1955 (10281162606) (3)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Alice_the_Tunnel_Boring_Machine_1955_%2810281162606%29_%283%29.jpg)
An
Earth Pressure Balance
Earth pressure balance, or EPB, is a mechanised tunneling method in which the excavated material is used to support the tunnel face whilst it is being plasticised using foams/slurry & other additives to make it transportable and impermeable. The s ...
tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...
(TBM) was built specifically for the Waterview Tunnel at the
Herrenknecht
Herrenknecht AG is a German company that manufactures tunnel boring machines, headquartered in Allmannsweier, Schwanau, Baden-Württemberg. It is the worldwide market leader for heavy tunnel boring machines. Roughly two-thirds of its 5,000 employ ...
factory, Guangzhou, China. Made up of 90 pieces, the TBM was 14 metres in diameter, 97 metres long, and had a top speed of 80mm per minute. The TBM arrived in Auckland on 22 July 2013, a launch ceremony was held on 31 October 2013, and excavation work began on 8 November 2013.
Nicknamed "Alice" following a public vote, the TBM was the 11th largest machine of this type in the world. Alice bored the twin tunnels in two passes to a depth of up to 45 metres so as to pass below hard rock, the water table, and sea level. The southbound tunnel, excavated from south to north, was holed through on 29 September 2014.
Alice completed the return journey on 19 October 2015 and was dismantled in early 2016 before being transported in sections to the Port of Auckland for shipment back to the German manufacturer.
Cross-passage excavation
Work on the excavation of cross-passages between the two tunnels began in early 2015. Sixteen cross-passages were built to enable evacuation of people from one tunnel to the other in the event of an emergency and to house tunnel operation equipment. Each cross-passage is around 11 metres long. The excavation was completed in December 2015.
Safety features
The tunnels include a number of features to ensure safe use by vehicles. Safety features include electronic message boards, speed cameras, public address systems, radio sound systems, CCTV cameras, and ventilation and fire sprinkler systems. Traffic is monitored by dedicated Tunnel Operators and computerised systems. Emergency exits and telephones are installed every 150 metres along the length of each tunnel. Overheight detection systems prevent oversize vehicles entering, and on-ramp signals regulate traffic flow.
Closures and detour route
The tunnels will be partially or fully closed for scheduled maintenance at times, usually between the hours of 10pm and 5am. A detour route through Great North Road, Blockhouse Bay Road, Tiverton Road, New Windsor Road, and Maioro Street will be utilised at these times. The detour will also be permanently in place for prohibited vehicles.
Prohibited vehicles
Dangerous Goods Vehicles (i.e. those requiring a placard), vehicles over 4.3m high, and vehicles carrying uncovered loads are prohibited from using the tunnels. They are required to take the detour route.
Completion date
In 2016, the completion date for Waterview Tunnel was estimated as mid-April 2017. A delay was announced in March 2017, with the date pushed out by "two-three months" after faults were found in the deluge system and software. On 11 June 2017 it was announced that the tunnel would open in early July 2017. The tunnels opened on 2 July 2017 with the first cars passing through at 12:47 am escorted by three police vehicles.
Te Haerenga Hou (artwork)
Auckland artist
Graham Tipene created an artwork named Te Haerenga Hou (meaning New Journey) for the entranceway to the tunnel.
The artwork depicts the journey from the
Manukau Harbour
The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea.
Geography
The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...
, past the volcanoes of
Te Ara Pūeru /Māngere,
Te Hōpua (Gloucester Park),
Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) and
Puketāpapa (Mt Roskill), to the feet of
Ōwairaka (Mt Albert), following the path of the tunnels. The work also incorporates the story of lovers Tamaireia and Hinemairangi, whose elopement is said to have led to the creation of the region's volcanoes.
See also
*
List of motorways, expressways, and highways in Auckland
This is a list of motorways and expressways in New Zealand, including some proposed and under construction. There are currently 406 km of motorways and expressways in New Zealand. 68 km are currently under construction, with a furth ...
References
External links
* https://www.nzta.govt.nz/waterview-tunnel/
{{Coord, 36, 53, 51.74, S, 174, 42, 35.57, E, display=title
Buildings and structures in Auckland
Road tunnels in New Zealand
Transport buildings and structures in the Auckland Region