Direct by Design
Toronto begins award of metro extension contracts
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rogress is being made on metro expansion plans in Toronto. Initial construction work on both the Scarborough Subway and Eglinton Crosstown West extensions has begun, after advanced tunnelling contracts were confirmed earlier in 2021. Two more contracts are in procurement on the new Ontario Line, with more to follow, as the city advances four major metro projects. Drilling of the 300 secant piles that will support excavation of the 30m deep TBM launch shaft on the Scarborough Subway extension has been started by contractor, Strabag. The launch shaft is located at the northern end of the line, at the northeast corner of Sheppard and McCowan. From there, the TBM will drive south to the existing Kennedy Station (Fig 1). The CAN$757.1 million fixed-priced PPP public-private partnership contract was issued by project owner, Infrastructure Ontario, in May 2021 to Strabag and a design team of Arup Canada and Brian Isherwood & Associates. The contract covers TBM procurement and excavation of the 7.8km segmentallylined twin running tunnels plus design and construction of the launch and reception shafts, and fabrication of the precast concrete segments. Station construction, fit-out of the tunnels, and installation and commissioning of the systems is covered by a separate contract to be awarded on a design-buildfinance-and-maintain basis. A request for qualifications is scheduled to be issued this year, according to the June Market Update from Infrastructure Ontario. A further 6km of tunnels is to be excavated for the Eglinton Crosstown West Metro extension between the launch site at Renforth and just west of Scarlett Road, between the proposed stations at Royal York and Scarlett. An elevated section will then take the route over the Humber River, before tracks will dive underground again for a short stretch into Mount Dennis Station (Fig 2). Preparation work began at the Renforth site in Summer 2021. Confirmation of the Eglinton CAN$729.2 million PPP public-private partnership tunnelling contract was announced in May 2021 to the West End Contractors team led by Aecon Infrastructure, Dragados and Ghella, with design engineers TYPSA and EXP Services. Procurement for the Eglinton station construction and fit-out contract
is yet to begin with a timetable yet to be confirmed. Both Scarborough and Eglinton TBMs are expected to arrive onsite in early 2022 for launch later in spring/summer. Procurement is underway for two contracts on the new Ontario Line, including construction of the southern stations and running tubes. A request for qualifications to construct the northern stations and running tubes is expected to be announced in early 2022. Infrastructure Ontario and metro operator, Metrolinx, are also expected to begin procurement on the Yonge North Subway extension later in 2021 with the optimum contract packaging strategy currently being determined.
“The extensions will create convenient connections between different transit systems through the region,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation in the Ontario Provincial Government. “Through future phases of metro network extension, the Province is also committed to establishing connectivity to Pearson International Airport.” n
References Toronto Metro expansion projects • Scarborough Subway • Eglinton Crosstown West Extension • Ontario Line • Yonge North Subway Extension
Underground in Action U
Scarborough Subway extension route
PROJECT PROGRESS
TunnelTalk reporting
Eglinton Crosstown West extension route
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