Tunneling Complete on Eglinton Crosstown Western Segment

By TBM News May 10, 2016

Tunneling has been completed on the western tunnel segment for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project. Here, the twin TBMs are shown as they broke into the Allen Road Shaft on Jan. 21, 2015, marking the halfway point. (CNW Group/Metrolinx)

Tunneling is now complete on the western segment of the 10-km underground tunnel of the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line. On May 10, TBMs Dennis and Lea arrived at Yonge Street having travelled 6,419 m from where they started at Black Creek Drive in spring 2013. Each TBM installed 25,647 precast concrete tunnel segments, which formed 4,279 rings.

The western segment consists of 6.5 km of twin, 5.75-m ID tunnel by KO Constructors (Kenaidan Contracting Ltd. and Obayashi Canada Ltd.) Construction on the Crosstown began in 2011 with the west launch area at Black Creek Drive and Eglinton Avenue. Dennis and Lea began tunneling from the west in June 2013.

The eastern segment TBMs began their drives in fall 2015. That segment covers 3.25 km of twin tunnels and is being constructed by a joint venture of Aecon/ACS Dragados Canada.

The new LRT line will have 25 stations and stops along Eglinton Avenue between Weston Road and Kennedy Station, and will also link to 54 bus routes, three TTC interchange subway stations, and GO Transit.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is one of the largest public transit projects currently under construction in Canada. Ontario committed $5.3 billion in capital investment to expand transit in Toronto with the Crosstown project. Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT began in 2011 and the LRT will be in service by September 2021.

“We are making considerable progress on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line. The completion of tunneling from the west to Yonge Street is a significant step for the project and 19 km of new rapid transit for Toronto. This is further proof of our government’s commitment to provide accessible, modern transit infrastructure that will manage congestion, reduce commute times, create jobs and improve the quality of life for Ontarians,” said Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation.