THE TUNNEL

BORING
MACHINE
.

SOUTH

Southern

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What is a tunnel borin&: machine (TBM)?

Why do we need the TBM?

A tunnel boring machine (TBM) IS like a giant drill, but one

t haI builds as it drills.

By digging the tunnel and taking the motorway underground for

2.4 kilometres, we save the existing roads. parks, rivers, houses
and businesses that are along the route.

The rBM arriving in Auckland in July is going to drill two holes, each
big enough for a three lane motorway. It wHl first travel north from
Owairaka to Waterview to dig one tunnel, then turn around

at Waterview and begin its journey back to Owairaka.

Why is the tunnel boring m~ch lne referred to as it TBM?
Saying the words tunnel boring machine is a bit of a mouthful
so we call it a TBM for short.

P~II5t

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BELOW
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TOP SPEED:

8CM~

PER/MIN
H_ ' H t cIHlit,o?
~p.ndina:on the,rou~d slrength the TBM
can Iravel ~ta top speed of B ~omlimelres ~
minut~ but like any ncwengine ~ It" going to
ne~ 10 b. bro/;en In and padually laken up
to _k al Its top speed.. EIght <=IimWH "
minullt is also the top s~ 01 ~ soan.

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It's a practical solution to easing traffic congestion and building

new roads, though an extremely challenging one. The Waterview
Connection is a Road of National Significance, meaning the benefits
of the motorway go beyond the use of people in Auckland. All of
New Zealand benefils as it will be a major road that is used to
transport goods and services around the country.

PIlyIlis Res.rve

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Sfe!rIir...:. IsM:

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AlfordS!

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How dHp v,""","","" do ..

that_ei re?
The turnds rim to tnlIlinK.m ot
4S met,u below g,ovnd al cerllin
pOints 01 lhe; TBMs journey. The
T8M wiN IiiIv,.[ blocalll a Iaye,
of~ hlrd vdcani<:rod.
formed by Ihe erupl lOfl 04 a vo:>Iuno
in th e region. a Ion&. Ion,c lime 3io.

24,040
PRECAST CONCRETE
SEGMENTS LINING
THE TUNNEL

DRILL TO THE CENTRE

OFTHE EARTH:
Th~ simple answer is that
the TBM is like a giant
drill and it will drill the two
holes that will be the north
and southbound tunnels.

}.

Wk.... 40u the IIninc com. h om'

A pu'pou-Oul ll lacUity In Eist TamakJ will
make lhe 2 metre wide sta:momb.l're..:ut
sqments Me made by eHling cona.te ill a
novs.bIt mould. Concrete is poured into the
moolds and thenc;ured In tilt be.1 conditions
loensure Ih~t it 15 strona. Curing CQoeret.
d.... , rIOt mean .... lItal II of ... hat w it, but
we .... k.1t Slrorlgor thin il wou6d be If It
_ not cured. We tab!! the utmost a".. lo
properly CtKe tilt
s.Q that it .eh;e-..es
Ih. 'equlred strength and h..dness.
Tho moulds aff! lhen used over;orKl over ilgaln
to ca51 the rest of lhe sei'f'MIs as It ensures
It\iIt " the mg. will be or the aac:t sin..
Therf! ... ill be 24.040 concrete segments In
totar usrd to line the tUrtnel.

COlIC'' '

#"\ 2655

-~ YEARS

16
Howm ll\~ people

d. ,..,u .-cf
t o wOfk tilt. mlehlne?
At.nyone time t.hetewlll be.bouI: 16people
WOfklna in the IBM It will t.ou.o crew
headed by lhe TBM pilot m the mKhine's
openotmgcabin.

If OUf TaM ... u to bolt Sl'ifc/lt doow n 1"10

u... th,. h..", 10.,. would it ta'" I.. rueh

the e..,t,. ..f tt.. wetWl

The front section of the TBM is called the

shie ld. At the front of the shield is the cutting
face. The cutting face is like a giant, round
circular cheese grater.

The shield has two jobs, it drills through the

ground to create a large hole which it then lines
with concrete segments to form complete rings.
These concrete segments are 2 metres wide

and 450 millimetres thick.

So the TBM could also be called a TMM - a
tunnel making machine beca use it not only digs

the tunnel, it also lines the hole that it has dug

with concrete segments and completes the
process of making the tunnel.

DID

YOU

KNOW?

It is roIfIJ to take "boot , rca' IOf our TBM 10

IraW 2A kilometres. This i<>dude. downtime
wMe tilt machine is belnl rmlntained..
The eomtre DlIIIt th II ~imately
6371 ki\omeln!s down. 11 we lab the 11lM 10
be runn\nt it the! saffle speed t!>ilt It wit( be
IriM!H;n, whi le it dillS the Wateryiew lunne~
lhen il would tak. ~p..,.....lmately 265S years
lor t~ T8M 10 bose " tln1eltolhe cent,e of
lheeartt>.

..

800,000M3

OFSOIL TO
WIRIQUARRY

INJECT
FOAM

INTO TH E SOIL

The soil that his been &rated awf by the

TBM is referred to as 'spoII' ,nd it is tak:etloul
of Ih. lunnel on a contilloous conveyor belt to
a sped.1 building mad. just fo, it.

Whal happen. if Ihi w lll"1I f~ ,els

duck in tI "",,"d7

It sitl in Illis buildin&:

Thi. won'! happen as. mate'ial thai hu the

c;On'listenq 01 fo;om is injected into u.. soli
tlvoua/l pipes .. the CUllin, head. ~ with
waler. lo help tl.O'll tilt soil k>to a slurry which
can then be ~ eully ucavaled.

'(If 2411w-s while the

water IIlat was s~ into the gfOlllld "r0l1fll

with the loitll, slowty seeps out of tile spell.
On~e

it has 'd_at~'ed" the spoil is lhen

trucked 10 aQUi.!TV in Win, Sooth Aucl:land.
For every two metres that the T8M
~ that is the width of one tunnel
ring. tbe TBM will re~ approximately )30
cubic melres 01 spoil.
When the TBM has doni III job. II wi. haYe
QU.led 800.000 tubfc metres 01 pound.
That is enou&h to iii 310 Olympic
sized pooIl.

wtw. b build..., It?

WhW mllit 11M TBM hawe . ~m ." n_ 7

How much dMS it ,,,"t?

"The New Zt"r~ T.al>SjXlft Aaeocy h"s commissiooed

lhe Well..c.. noected Alli..-.ce to build tM WatfrYiew
C""nection. The Well-CoMlcted Alliance is a I'oupol
leading enain eerlng tompanies Ihal ..... wcr~in8 closely
logelher. u thtir f>ilme implies.

This tradition dales bad: to Saini a.~ra who is the

palr",,in! IOf 'flilierymcr,. ,mnou.... rs. mllil"y
engineers. gun.mlths.. miners and . nyone els, w~o worked
...ith cinoo osand e~plo.;~es.

The tnlIdIi<le cosllSO nUlli"" doltan to build and

lransport toN .... .zularn:l. It hiS been built by
Herr~nk!lecht. II Ieacier In manul.cturlnll Ihis type 01

T........ ~s. a ...de<gro....t" ... ort.B-look to Saini

B..orbir. lor protllon and a. /I ,e-svlt mact.ines that work
Yn~I,oond are _Iways gl~n femlle nilmu.

AS HEAVY AS

Wbat hl ppenl to 11M 1011th l

is' ...,o.... d fr .... Ih. I _I?

mKhine.1n tlltir planl '" Guangzhou ChINo ~nd arrivei

from China Irt hlly 2013.

When will it ,tlrt wOrk?

It starls wort In Odober. alter it hn been usembled
and pass~d ils Warranl 01 Fitness (WOF). II win lake
three months to put It logether .Iter it arrive! In Au~kl;md,
havinC been broken down inlo plotts 10 be traniPOl'led
to Auckland.

Wl lpl. pl, be abla te ' '''.. ...... ,.1"0l0I OM

..we 01 1M t~ to th e othu ?

People ...ho WOfk"in Ih. tunnel win bnble to use one

01 the ' eventeen croU-jlllssage. th~1 will connect lilt

north iJIld south bound Watervie ... hlfwls..

Whatlsitm..,. 047
The m;lchlt1l is made from .numbe, ol<mleri. ls
but Ihe main one~ are:
the str~clyre Isrmdt!rom, specialsorl of Sleel th'l
10M been made t.. handle ext ....... prulure
thewirif\83nd motor cables iIIeal made 04 c~ ilnd
weigh aboulIa lonnes .Ient
gold wirinll on the compule, syslems and proarammilble

H"",bIa"IsU'lem l . /Iin.7
The machine
a diameter of 14A metres.
whicllII I<orger th,n tilt trunk of T.ne M ilhula.
Ne ... Z..tands oldlSt.nd bluest lC .... rl Iff!t.
.,d .bout Ihe same he/3ht as a lou- 110fe)'

h,.

bviI~.

The TBM to be used in Waterview will be the

largesl IUMel borinl mlchine (TaM) ev..
used in AuslraJasia.
The TBM Wl11 w~ .boul3000 tOMes.
Thall, equaT 10 1000.000 k,logr...,s g,
750 .Ieph~nls. 0. tilt same IS 5 and a
quarttf Airbus AJ8QI.
The lot.1 1o,"lh ... u.. TBM is 87.1_t",s.
almost ~ 10," is i rugby f.eJd.

o'll.

It it ,....' t the larI U I IllIC: ......

ktrIot,
how 1.,.ll lh.larl~st In tbo >lWfdl
The TBM that Is going te btl u~.din W3.tuv~ts th!
10lh IfratS! ... t~ worid WIth I drillTM'Ie< of 14.46 met~,.
The 1ltllut mKhin. !II Ji.Jne lOB I>a$ , diameter eT
17.S26 mel/Rs and Is eurrently in Seattle beavennJ aWl ,
beneilh lilt ground.

conlrol..u

- conveyor bellS ife milde om l&feI"ed .ubbtr with

steel wire ,,;nlo(1:l,"lo, slre<lJ1h.

THE BIGGEST:

10th BIGGEST:

17.526m 14.46m