The second tunnel for Metrolinx's Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is now underway.
Tunneling on the project started this past spring, with Renny, one of the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) digging the roughly six-kilometer (3.7-mile) tunnels, leading the charge.
And Renny has been busy. Since April, the massive machine has tunneled more than 650 meters (2,132.6 feet), making tremendous progress in a short amount of time – not bad for a 750-ton machine travelling 10 to 15 meters (32.8 to 49.2 feet) a day.
Now it’s Rexy’s turn.
There are a few reasons why Rexy and Renny didn’t start tunneling at the same time. One is that the space inside the launch shaft can only accommodate one TBM launch at a time. Each one is taller than a giraffe and, stood on their ends, a quarter of the height of the CN Tower.
The other reason is that the tunneling team can learn a lot from the first TBM that they can apply when the second machine starts tunneling.
Rexy and Renny will continue this pattern over the next 20 months. Renny will reach the extraction shaft just west of Scarlett Road first, with Rexy following behind.
These tunnels will form a large part of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, which will expand the Eglinton Crosstown light-rail transit (LRT) line another 9.2 kilometers (5.7 miles) west, to Renforth Drive. Plans are also being explored to extend the line even further to Pearson International Airport.
After the TBMs are pulled out of the ground near Scarlett Road, the route will transition to an elevated section, passing over the Humber River, before heading back underground just east of Jane Street, where the extension will connect to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT at Mount Dennis Station.
