page_title: Waterview Tunnel
section_title: Tunnel boring machine
hierarchical_section_title: Waterview Tunnel / Construction / Tunnel boring machine
caption_attribution_description: Waterview tunnel project (Mt Roskill end) open day. Boring machine and tunnel construction on view. 22,000 visits over the day. The Waterview Connection is a motorway section under construction through west/central Auckland, New Zealand. It is to connect the stub of State Highway 20 in the south from Mt Roskill to join up with another motorway, State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier, and is a part of the Western Ring Route. It was formerly known as the SH20 Avondale extension. The Waterview link will be 4.5 km long, of which 2.5 km are to be in a mostly bored twin tunnel, with three lanes in each tunnel. 13 October 2013 source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterview_Connection
context_page_description: The Waterview Tunnel is a twin road tunnel in west Auckland, New Zealand. At 2,400 metres 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 to State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier as part of the Waterview Connection. Its opening completed the Western Ring Route motorway system.
context_section_description: An Earth Pressure Balance tunnel boring machine (TBM) was built specifically for the Waterview Tunnel at the Herrenknecht 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.
caption: Alice the TBM near the start of her journey in October 2013. Te Hauranga Hau, an artwork designed for the project, can be seen on the left.
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