Eglinton Crosstown West Extension Reaches Tunneling Milestone

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor, Railway Age
Pictured: Renny, the first boring machine for Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project, which started tunneling work in April 2022. (Metrolinx Photograph)
Pictured: Renny, the first boring machine for Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project, which started tunneling work in April 2022. (Metrolinx Photograph)

The first tunnel boring machine passed the halfway point earlier this month, digging more than three kilometers of the roughly six-kilometer tunnel in less than a year for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project in Toronto, according to Metrolinx.

The 9.2-kilometer, seven-station extension of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will run from the future Mount Dennis Station to Renforth Drive and operate mainly underground (see map below). Once complete, it will create a continuous rapid transit line that stretches from Scarborough, through mid-town Toronto, and into Mississauga. It is expected to be completed by 2030-31.

According to Metrolinx, tunneling started last April near Renforth Drive. The two boring machines are making their way to west of Scarlett Road, where they will wrap up work.

Tunnel launch site near Renforth Drive (Metrolinx Photograph)

The second tunnel boring machine is not far behind the first. Since July, it has tunneled 2.45 kilometers and reached the first headwall location at Martin Grove Road.

Inside one of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension tunnels (Metrolinx Photograph)

West End Connectors was awarded the C$729.2 million Advance Tunnel contract for the work on May 20, 2021.

The Acciona-GIP Joint Venture (AGJV) and STRABAG were shortlisted for the second Advance Tunnel contract and invited to respond to an RFP in April 2022. Both teams submitted their proposals by the RFP deadlines, Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx reported on Nov. 16, 2022. Their submissions are now being evaluated, and a contract award is expected this spring for work on the 500-meter twin tunnels that will start east of Jane Street and connect to the future Mount Dennis Station.

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