Rail Trench
In the late 2000s, local and regional government, as part of the revitalising of the regional rail commuter network, decided to build a new "feature station" at New Lynn, which included sinking the tracks and station into a trench. Road was grade-separated from rail to enable vehicle traffic to pass over the line. Before the trenching works, the level crossings in the town centre were often blocked by passing trains, leading to substantial congestion, which would have only increased with more train services.
The new rail trench and associated sunken station were to be constructed with up to 16m deep diaphragm walls using specially imported cranes and specialists. This was required due to the unstable, water-logged soils and the need to avoid settlement damage to close-by buildings. The procedure to construct the 1 km of trench (with finished depth of up to 8m) involved multiple temporary shifts of the railway line and of various associated roads, and was called the most difficult part of the DART railway development program in Auckland. Wet ground conditions had also forced a redesign of the trench methods, and delayed the project start by six months.
Read more about this topic: New Lynn Train Station
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