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Source: ONE News -
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A giant cutting machine has finally seen the light after eight months of round-the clock drilling a three-kilometre tunnel under central Auckland.
Iwi nicknamed the 270 tonne drilling machine Te Kaha - the strength - as it dug its way under eastern Auckland and now its revolving cutting head has finished its job.
"Unlike a number of tunnelling projects in New Zealand this one is under time and under budget and we're absolutely delighted to have got to where we have today," says Craig McIlroy from Watercare Services.
The team operating the drill deep underground have been creeping forward 18 millimetres a day in the project aimed at getting rid of the 90 year old sewer pipeline.
It will make Hobson Bay easier on the eye and easier to use for recreation.
When the old system overflows the sewage spews into surrounding waters but the new tunnel has much greater capacity with far less chance of any overflow.
The new tunnel can store any excess for eight hours if the pump goes down, which happened last week when a power cut knocked out the pumping station - resulting in the beaches being closed.
"It means we're no longer going to spew raw sewage, untreated
sewage out onto the eastern bays beaches - we can have
pristine clean beaches," Mayor John Banks says.
