ALICE TAKES A BREATHER

摘要

The backup train of the Waterview Connection TBM was in the process of being turned to join up with the cutterhead and shield already working on its second bore path as Tunnels and Tunnelling went to press. Construction work paused on 20 February after the TBM, with support from a temporary gantry setup, had excavated the required 270m of the second tunnel. New Zealand Transport Agency highway manager Brett Gliddon said: "There is now enough room bring all the necessary gear into the tunnel so that we can complete the job." The temporary gantry has to be removed. And the two remaining gantries - which contain all services and backup equipment for TBM operation - have to be pulled from the first tunnel, turned 180 degrees inside the Northern Approach Trench (NAT), and then reconnected to the cutter head. The culvert-laying gantry being used to build the services culvert on the floor of the main tunnels behind Alice also has to be removed from the first tunnel, turned, and installed in the second.