Huge tunnel-digging machine finishes job after two years working on LRT line in Mississauga, Toronto
Published April 26, 2024 at 7:28 pm
To paraphrase ’60s’ rock band The Doors, the first of two massive tunnel-boring machines tasked the past two years to dig out the underground portion of a major new light-rail transit line in east Mississauga and Toronto has broken on through to the other side.
Dropped into its launch shaft in Mississauga to begin the daily digging job in late July/early August of 2022, the TBM dubbed Rexy emerged from the fully-dug tunnel on Friday morning in west Toronto to mark a significant milestone in construction of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension transit initiative.
Rexy’s partner in tunnelling, Renny — the two were named as a nod to areas in Mississauga and Toronto — has a couple weeks or so left in its similar journey even though it started digging much earlier, in April 2022.
“Rexy has emerged, breaking through the final wall after carefully excavating one of two 6.3-kilometre tunnels bringing more rapid transit to Toronto and Mississauga,” project officials said in a post to social media today.
The massive TBMs measure 131 metres long and weigh 750 tonnes, according to Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of the major transit project. They moved eastward — Renny continues to dig its way in that direction — from Mississauga at 10 to 15 metres per day.
Rexy will now be disassembled, as will its partner once it reaches the finish line.
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Officials initially hoped the machines, which were built in Germany and brought to Canada in early 2022 before going into the ground a few months later, would reach their final destination late in 2023 or earlier in 2024.
The names Renny and Rexy reference Renforth Station in east Mississauga and the Rexdale neighbourhood in northwest Toronto located adjacent to the ECWE.
Map shows the route taken by the two TBMs.
The ECWE is a 9.2-kilometre above ground/underground LRT route that will take the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto farther west and “bring much-needed rapid transit to Etobicoke and Mississauga,” project leaders said.
When completed in roughly eight years, it will link east Mississauga and likely Pearson Airport as well with parts of west Toronto. With project completion anticipated by 2030-31, the new route will bring the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line from Toronto west to Renforth Drive in east Mississauga.
A proposal to extend the ECWE an additional 4.7 kilometres from Renforth Drive to Pearson Airport in Mississauga is also being strongly considered.
When finished, the ECWE will operate underground from Renforth Drive to just west of Scarlett Road in Toronto, where it will then transition to a 1.5-km elevated section that runs east of Jane Street before heading underground again and connecting to the future Mount Dennis Station.
The new LRT line is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by some 39,000 tonnes each year, project leaders say.
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