The City Rail Link has marked another milestone with a new 90- tonne compact piling rig starting work at downtown Auckland where the CRL tunnels are being built in the Chief Post Office / Britomart Transport Centre building.
The large bright red machine, named Sandrine, will be digging 15 to 20 metre deep wall panels that will form the structural support for the tunnels. Known as D-walls or diaphragm walls, they are continuous walls constructed in the ground to form an underground barrier or structure.
They will support the existing foundations of the Chief Post Office to provide ground retention during excavation for the rail tunnels and to prevent groundwater ingress into the excavations. The work will take about six months. Sandrine is being used by CRL's construction partners Downer NZ and Soletanche Bachy JV as they work on the area around the building.
Soletanche Bachy has a tradition of naming its machinery after women who work for the company. The rig is named after Sandrine Mussier, who has worked for CRL contractor Soletanche-Bachy for the past 20 years, looking after its international project staff.
Watch videos of Sandrine at work at cityraillink.co.nz
