Crews dig in for guideway construction on Hurontario LRT project

Crews use a milling machine to dig the road up in preparation for constructing the guideway.

Metrolinx

Guideway construction for the Hurontario LRT project along Hurontario Street is in the works.

This marks an important step for the light rail transit (LRT) line, which will extend from Mississauga to Brampton. 

The team’s current task is to construct the bed of the tracks, also known as guideway construction. This step is in preparation for track installation.  

Work will progress from south to north, beginning between Matheson Boulevard to Britannia Road.  

“Installing tracks along the roadway isn’t as easy as affixing rails to the ground. Crews first need to dig the roadway up, then dig down as deep as 5 ft before installing the foundation of the guideway,” said Bernard Sharpe, director of trackworks for the Hazel McCallion LRT.   

“Once the foundation is installed, the guideway will be backfilled and topped with a concrete slab, followed by installation of the tracks,” Bernard added.  

Below you’ll find a graphic detailing the steps in this process.  

Key areas where guideway construction is up and running include along Hurontario Street from Bristol Road to Britannia Road—which is currently being excavated—and at the operations, maintenance, and storage facility (OMSF) where there has been over 15 metres of track laid in the yard to date.  

At these locations, track work is happening on the roadway between intersections (also known as mid-blocks) before progressing to the intersections. Mid-block work has minimal impact on pedestrians and traffic flows at intersections, so it’s business as usual.  

Once work begins at intersections, there will be east-west road closures and detours for motorists and transit.  

Once completed, the entire project will use: 

• 89 km of rail with each segment being 25 m in length, weighing approximately 5,000 metric tonnes, which is greater than the weight of 735 adult elephants; 
• 32 km of rail encapsulation which acts as insulation against vagrant electric current; 
• 13,000 metric tonnes of rail ballast; and
• 47,000 cubic metres of guideway concrete upon which the tracks are affixed.

Read more articles on track construction.