Around 30 local preschoolers left colourful handprints on Moana, the tunnel-boring machine that will dig a new wastewater tunnel in Māngere East as part of Watercare’s $64 million upgrade. Photo: LDR/SUPPLIED
Tunnelling is underway in Māngere East for a $64 million wastewater upgrade that will reduce overflows, protect local waterways and prepare the network for thousands of new homes.
A boring machine, nicknamed Moana by local children, began work this morning and is currently underground, carving out a passage.
Watercare's Archboyd Wastewater Upgrades will include a new storage tunnel, pump station and 1.2-kilometre wastewater pipeline designed to reduce overflows and prepare the network for thousands of new homes.
An aerial view of the Archboyd Avenue construction site in Māngere East, where Moana will tunnel a 170-metre wastewater storage tunnel as part of Watercare’s Archboyd Wastewater Upgrades. Photo: LDR/SUPPLIED
Councillor Alf Filipaina for the Manukau ward welcomes the work, saying it will support housing growth and protect the environment, but also reinforces that South Auckland is again hosting infrastructure to serve the wider city.
"Having this is really for our community. But the project is not for Māngere solely and wholly. We have the wastewater treatment plant here, and it's about supporting future growth in the area and protecting the environment."
Filipaina says Māngere often carries the city's wastewater load, with overflows sometimes affecting local streams and the Manukau Harbour.
Watercare project manager Jason Salmon says the work should help prevent poor ecological outcomes.
"This is a significant upgrade to the Māngere East wastewater network that will support new housing and protect the environment by reducing wastewater overflows," he says.
"Once complete, the system will be able to hold more than half a million litres before releasing it to the new pump station on Archboyd Avenue. The upgrades will remove two existing overflow points and improve the network's resilience."
The Archboyd upgrades form part of Watercare's $13.8 billion ten-year capital programme, which funds about $3.8 million of work every day across Auckland. Major projects are also underway in central and north-west Auckland, including the Midtown Wastewater Diversion and the Red Hills and Whenuapai schemes.
"We have about 120 projects on the go right now," Salmon says. "This one is particularly important because it enables growth in Māngere East, Wickman Way and Favona, while protecting the Manukau Harbour from overflows."
The programme will also pave the way for about 3000 new homes, including Kāinga Ora developments. Work on the Māngere East project is scheduled for completion in 2027, with trenchless tunnelling used to minimise noise and road disruption.
"Where possible, our aim is to use trenchless methods to reduce noise and road closures. We thank the community for their patience," Salmon says.
The $64 million investment is partly funded by the Government's Shovel Ready fund, making it Watercare's final project under that national recovery programme. The company says its infrastructure is financed through borrowings and service charges, not Auckland Council rates, with prices fixed until July 2026.
Moana on the move
Earlier this month, children from Kidz & Crayonz Early Childhood Centre helped launch the tunnel-boring machine, leaving colourful handprints on Moana before she began tunnelling six metres underground.
Children and teachers from Kidz & Crayonz Early Childhood Centre joined Watercare staff to give Moana, the tunnel-boring machine, a colourful send-off before tunnelling began six metres underground. Photo: LDR/SUPPLIED
Leanne Van Niekerk, the centre manager, says the event helped make the massive project tangible for the community's youngest residents.
"The kids chose the name 'Moana' after the Disney character because of her spirit of exploration, which fits nicely as the TBM's about to start her journey underground," she says.
Preschoolers painted their hands in bright colours before pressing them onto Moana, celebrating the start of the $64 million Māngere East wastewater upgrade designed to protect local waterways and support new housing. Photo: LDR/SUPPLIED
Moana began tunnelling this morning and is expected to complete her 170-metre journey within three weeks. Once tunnelling is finished, the machine will be lifted out for maintenance before being redeployed on another project.
Watercare says it plans to invest more than $660 million in six major Ōtara infrastructure projects between 2028 and 2040 to reduce overflows and improve water quality.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
