TUNNELLING work has been completed on the western underground section of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension light rail project in Toronto.
Two tunnel boring machines (TBM) have completed their drives to build 6.3km of twin-bore tunnel beneath Eglinton Avenue West, running from Renforth Drive to Scarlett Road where the alignment comes to the surface and the 1.5km elevated section of the new line begins.
The TBMs excavated 1.2 million tonnes of soil and rock and installed over 7400 concrete tunnel lining rings.
The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension runs for 7.7km in tunnel of which 93% has now been completed. The extension runs for a total of 9.2km from Mount Dennis station, the western terminus of the Eglington Crosstown line, west to Renforth Drive.
During the next phase of the project, work will continue at the extraction shaft at Scarlett Road to build the portal structure. Preparatory work will start for tunnelling on the eastern underground section, running east of Jane Street to Mount Dennis.
“Completing this important phase of tunnelling work will help build even more momentum behind the project as construction progresses across the entire line,” says Mr Phil Verster, president and CEO of greater Toronto public transport agency Metrolinx.
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