Follow the tracks

Foreword

Kia ora Talofa lava Bonjour Malo e lelei

Marhabal Hello Namaste Ni hao Nabad

Sahwasdee

Kia orana Fakaalofa lahi atu

Annyeonghaseyo Hola

We’re proud to have another year under our belt of sharing the City Rail Link project with rangatahi, giving them opportunities to experience what we’re building and encouraging them into Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) related pathways.

City Rail Link (CRL) is the largest transport infrastructure project ever to be undertaken in New Zealand. It will transform Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s rail network and benefit us all for generations to come.

Although the project generates a huge amount of technical innovation and engineering feats, people really are at the heart of what we’re doing. Link Alliance aims to set a high bar for other infrastructure projects by building people as we build the project. This includes enabling young people to experience the project, learn, try out work-experience, hear from our role models and see opportunities for their future careers.

Over 2022, the alliance’s social outcomes and future workforce programmes continued to be popular and we engaged hundreds of rangatahi.

This year schools and universities met our team and visited our construction sites through the Link Alliance Education Engagement Programme (LEEP). We also took part in a number of school expos and outreach events to share the project and promote STEAM-related career pathways.

We had a number of work-based learning opportunities over the last year. A cohort of 21 university-level summer interns worked on

the project and 10 Progressive Employment Programme interns graduated.

This year we also turned our focus to inspiring more wāhine into the industry through our inaugural Scaffolding through Sisterhood Work Experience programme. In September we launched our video vignette series, Career Pathways: Stories that inspire with guest speaker Auckland Councillor Josephine Bartley.

We know that sharing authentic voices and journeys of our team helps others to see themselves taking the same path. This is an important part of our ethos as we encourage groups who are less represented into STEAMrelated careers – particularly Māori, Pasifika and women.

I’d like to thank rangatahi, schools, education providers, community groups, industry and more for partnering with us in 2022.

If you haven’t explored the CRL as a learning opportunity, I encourage you to consider visiting us. Construction is still well underway and we welcome the opportunity to share this project with you.

Enjoy this round up of our 2022 engagement with schools and young people – we hope to see you soon!

Nga manaakitanga Francois Dudouit Project Director Link Alliance

Highlights 2022

100

Rangatahi completed the Link Alliance Education Programme (LEEP)

21

Tertiary students earned as they learned on our Summer Internship programme

10

Rangatahi completed the Progressive Employment Programme

500

Rangatahi engaged with us at one of our Link Alliance Outreach programmes

8

Wāhine in high school took part in the Scaffolding through Sisterhood work experience programme

University of Auckland’s Civil Engineering Students Association (CESA) LEEP visit.

Rangatahi visiting Karanga-a-Hape Station

What is the City Rail Link?

When CRL opens, Aucklanders will have new world-class stations and a modern rail service that will transform the way we travel around our city and benefit the entire transport network for decades to come.

The project includes:

• 3.45km twin-tunnel underground rail link up to 42 metres below the city centre

• Redevelopment of downtown Waitematā Station (Britomart) which will no longer be a dead-end stop – instead it will become a two-way through station

• A new station called Te Waihorotiu below Albert Street

• A new station called Karanga-a-Hape being built below Karangahape Road.

• A redeveloped Maungawhau Station which is where the CRL will connect with the North Auckland Line (Western Line).

The international award-winning station designs have been developed together with mana whenua and once they are built they will be uniquely Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

The orange rail track you can see between Waitematā and Maungawhau Stations will be inside CRL’s new underground tunnels. We are already more than halfway through completing this project so come and visit us when you’re in the area of one of our stations to see the team working and the CRL coming to life!

Who is the Link Alliance?

We are a consortium of seven companies from New Zealand and around the world working together to deliver the main stations and tunnels for the CRL project. We are currently a team of around 2,000 people.

Together, we have a wealth of experience in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects. Our team includes engineers, lab technicians, machinery operators, architects, sustainability and environmental specialists, construction workers, health and safety specialists and project leaders.

The mechanical star of the project was most certainly the Dame Whina Cooper Tunnel Boring Machine, named after a ground-breaking wāhine. It drilled two 1.6km train tunnels from Maungawhau Station to Te Waihorotiu Station. These tunnels are now being fitted out with rail systems and the electrical and communications needed for the CRL to operate.

Link Alliance Education Engagement Programme (LEEP)

The CRL project provides a once in a lifetime opportunity for rangatahi to see engineering and science innovation up close and learn from experts across New Zealand and the rest of the world.

During a LEEP tour, students start by learning about the project through presentations from our team who share their career experiences and insights. Students then go on a guided tour of one of our four station construction sites. After a false start for Term 1 last year due to covid restrictions, LEEP engagements began in Term 2 and we were able to welcome visits from 10 schools.

Big thanks to our team for helping make LEEP a reality! Our engineers, lab technicians, structures supervisors, environmentalists, construction workers, health and safety specialists, and project leaders all contribute to this programme’s success.

CRL continues to be a valuable platform to showcase STEAM-career pathways and opportunities in the construction and infrastructure industry. If you haven’t visited yet, we encourage you to get in touch!

If you are interested in finding out more email us at socialoutcomes@linkalliance.co.nz

Thank you for visiting us in 2022! Mangere College, Auckland Grammar School’s satellite class with Central Auckland Special School, St Peters College, Manurewa High School, Glenfield College, Kelston Girls College, Auckland Girls Grammar, the Civil Engineering Students Association at University of Auckland, Papakura High School and Otahuhu College.

Mangere College student, Mathew Tonga, joined LEEP two years in a row. He was keen to visit the project again, however his teacher explained that might be a bit of a challenge given he is enrolled to start an engineering qualification at university in 2023!

It was the best trip ever – I’ll be telling my grandchildren about it LEEP student visitor

Our Maungawhau site team was joined by some very special guests who received an onsite tour – on wheels! The team had the pleasure of meeting students from Auckland Grammar School. The students who visited had learning challenges including autism. It was important to Link Alliance that the visit was accessible and inclusive and from the safety of a work van, the students were driven onsite. As the van drove around students got a running commentary about the work happening and got to see the tunnel boring machine (TBM) .

Two wāhine from Kelston Girls College have also just started studying engineering at university this year. They told us that hearing from an inspirational wāhine engineer during their LEEP visit helped encourage them towards this pathway. Harvest Levuka is the newest member of Link Alliance’s Training and Development team. She was introduced to the project when her Year 12 Physics class visited as the project as part of LEEP. When Harvest finished Year 13 at Kelston Girls she applied for a role with us and we are lucky to have her join as our Training and Induction Administrator! She’s a valued member of the team and we’re looking forward to watching her career flourish.

Thank you again for being the perfect host for our students on another successful visit!

Will – educator at Manurewa High School

LEEP-ing to the next challenge –stories from our alumni

School expos & outreach engagement

We love spreading the word about our project and opportunities in STEAM pathways. We know that schools can’t always visit us onsite so we head out when we can to speak to rangatahi.

Youth Employer Pledge Event with Tātaki

Auckland Unlimited

Kudos

Science Spinners STEMHUB with Puatala

During this engagement held in Manukau, students became young scientists. They tested the quality of water samples collected from our onsite water plant treatment using a Turbidity meter, pH meter, and a Clarity/Secchi tube. Over 200 students took part, working in groups to find out if water samples would be safe to go into the stormwater system.

Four Link Alliance rangatahi shared their career experiences and described the initiatives that had supported and kept them engaged in employment with Link Alliance. Their valuable voices provided insights and lesson for students and employers.

Northern Jobs and Skills Hub Te Aratohu

Mahi

A group from Glenfield College were inspired about what they heard from our team, and we invited them along to see the work in action on a site vist. In September they visited Te Waihorotiu (Aotea) Station site and were fortunate to see Dame Whina Cooper TBM in it’s final state having just completed its journey.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip last year and it was every bit as good this year. Thank you for the opportunity to build an ongoing relationship with City Rail Link and for your welcoming and engaging staff and activities. We felt moved by the time and thought you had put in to making the visit memorable for the boys.

We love visiting the Link Alliance and the students really enjoyed their time. Some of the students were on their second visit and were amazed at the difference in the worksite. They chatted all the way back to school and seem to have a good sense of what they saw.

Best part was the virtual reality room and the tunnels LEEP student visitor

My parents were jealous LEEP student visitor

Margaret – Educator at Central Auckland Specialist School

Louise – Educator at Mangere College

Scaffolding through Sisterhood

The low participation rates of Māori and Pacific wāhine in the construction and infrastructure industry was a key driver to launch the Scaffolding through Sisterhood work experience programme.

The programme focuses on increasing the awareness and knowledge of the diverse career pathways into our industry by providing wāhine with work-based experience and matching them with a Link Alliance Mentor.

During the April and July school holidays, eight wāhine joined the Link Alliance whānau for the five-day programme. They came from Auckland Girls Grammar School, Papakura High School, Manurewa High School, Auckland Seventh Day Adventist School, Avondale College, and Glenfield College.

Thank you Ara Education Charitable Trust (AECT) and Jobs and Skills Hub for helping match students with our programme. Both organisations partner with industry, and Auckland high schools to create employment and training opportunities for their respective students. The benefit of working in this type of partnership is the established relationships, pastoral, and wrap-a-round support is already in place for the students they refer.

Many of the wāhine told us that being a part of this programme reaffirmed their aspirations to work in the industry, for others it has made them assess and reset.

Career pathways: Stories that inspire

In September we launched our first series of Career Pathways: Stories that inspire at an event with Project Director Francois Dudouit and guest speaker Auckland Councillor Josephine Bartley.

Councillor Bartley gave a fitting address that acknowledged the challenges and bravery of women, in particular Māori and Pasifika in male-dominated careers.

The idea behind documenting and sharing these stories came from feedback we received

Career Pathways: Stories that inspire, is a video resource that has been shared with schools, communities and industry.

during LEEP engagements. Visiting schools told us that they thought a lot of the presentations should be shared with a wider audience.

We then chose four wāhine from the project and videoed them speaking about their personal journeys to become engineers.

www.learnz.org.nz/ futurejourneys212

Together with LEARNZ, we showcased some of the places, people, ideas and initiatives through a virtual field trip.

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=FbqU87mncec

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=fRGLqE6ifKw

Veronica

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=FbqU87mncec

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=CkybZbLiimg&t=95s

"If I can do it – you can too.” That’s the encouragement and support from Veronica Lui, Link Alliance’s Owner Verifier - Rail Systems. We are proud to have strong leaders like Veronica in our team. Veronica’s interest in engineering started in high school, where she describes not having seen anyone that looked like her in the industry – a woman, let alone a Pasifika woman. Since becoming an engineer, Veronica advocates for and supports others who can see themselves in her journey.

Tātai Aho Rau LEARNZ

Angel

Life after school

Progressive Employment Programme

Link Alliance Summer Interns

We’re so proud of our cohort of 21 Link Alliance Summer Interns! At the start of 2023, interns graduated from a three-month structured workplace-based training and mentoring programme which was designed to build confidence, experience and relationships.

Our 20 engineering students and one commerce student were based onsite and at head office. They came from across Aotearoa New Zealand and a few of our interns have stayed on with us while they complete their studies.

Interns were first welcomed onto the project with a powhiri. They then completed a full project induction (requried for all new CRL staff), health and safety inductions including a Site Safe Passport and some also needed to do a rail induction.

We exposed rangatahi to as many aspects of the project as possible so that they could explore the varied subject matter expertise

required to build the CRL. We also based them within a team with a manager/mentor so that they could learn as much as possible within their chosen internship field.

As well as all the learning – our interns also had a lot of fun together! There were some competitive activities involved including an extremely spirited Amazing Race across the CRL sites.

Interns told us that as well as the learning opportunities on the project, they really valued the personal relationships they have made including with each other.

This is the Link Alliance’s fourth year of welcoming summer interns to help build the CRL. Huge congratulations to everyone involved! We plan to continue offering summer internships for university students. If you're interested in joining a future cohort, get in touch on socialoutcomes@linkalliance.co.nz

Through this programme we welcome rangatahi who are not already in education or working to take part in a 16-week paid internship. They are also given the opportunity to secure full time employment following graduation.

We work closely with pastoral care organisations who nominate interns and help to support them while they are part of the PEP. Link Alliance mentors are also available as interns complete a structured placement that’s enriched with meaningful employment.

We understand that rangatahi leave school for a number of reasons and the PEP is designed to bypass barriers that prevent rangatahi reaching the employment start line.

We have had a group of PEP interns on the project every year since 2019. Last year saw a cohort of 10 graduate the programme.

Meet the Young Gunz!

We emphasise social responsibility to upskill the young workforce, and try to provide a whānauoriented environment for employees. Through ‘Young Gunz’, our young workers at the Maungawhau Station site take turns facilitating the 7am Friday construction team meeting –the ‘toolbox’ talks and then individually give an update on upcoming work, learnings and highlights for the week to the rest of the group.

Link Alliance supervisor Morris Misilisi says it began “with making sure rangatahi felt able to speak up, particularly around health and safety. This is such an important issue on site and rangatahi need to know they are encouraged to share concerns and suggestions.”

Atarangi in front of Te Waihorotiu Station's construction site

Back to the books

Atarangi was one of the project’s first Progressive Employment Programme interns. She completed the programme in 2019 and recently told us that when she began her journey, she never imagined that it would lead her down this career pathway. Fast forward to 2022, these days you will find Atarangi out across the Te Waihorotiu (Aotea) and Karangaa-Hape (Karangahape) sites fulfilling her role as the Environmental Administrator.

Atarangi is also completing an Environmental Science degree part time at the University of Auckland with the support of a Downer cadetship scholarship.

She tells us she is grateful to be supported in so many ways from her Link Alliance whanau, and we appreciate that she gives back in many ways such as sharing her career journey. She has been popular with students as a presenter for the Link Alliance Education Engagement Programme (LEEP), and at external community events.

Raised in the small rural community of Taumarunui, I know how important education is to forging a rewarding career. I’ve worked in civil engineering for over 24 years on major infrastructure projects across New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific and I enjoy opportunities to tell my story to the younger generation.

Glenn Houpapa, Stations Delivery Manager

It’s important for us to show the fantastic work we’re doing to school students to encourage them into careers in the engineering and construction industries.

I love engaging with and sharing my knowledge with the next generation. They will be our future change makers of the world!

Diana

I like to take part in the engagement sessions as I love to show what I do to the youth in hopes to inspire them and show them that there’s more than just pick packing and labouring jobs out there

Bringing schools around site is one of the highlights of my job. It’s a great opportunity to show young people there’s more to construction than just cranes and clipboards, and to spark their interest in potential careers they might not have otherwise discovered.

It’s always a wonderful experience getting to share with young women the amazing job possibilities there are across construction for them in the future.

Deidre Fitzgerald, Development Response Manager at

Karanga-a-Hape Station

Toki-Hu, Communications & Engagement Advisor, Te Waihorotiu Station

Nick Adams, Construction Manager

Teringa Horton, Mined Tunnels – Graduate Engineer, Maungawhau Station

Mā te wā (see you next time) from the team. We look forward to welcoming you and sharing the project with you!

Mary Samasoni, Social Outcomes

Future Workforce Manager

Mycenae Watana, Future Workforce Coordinator

Jodene Meredith, Electrical Engineer

Don David, Structures Supervisor

Pita Kolinisau, Laboratory Manager

Jayden Tabani-ivi, Environmental Technician

Dylan Sims, Site Engineer, Maungawhau Station