Metrolinx has celebrated the latest milestone for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension with the completion of two 6.3-kilometre tunnels.
Twin tunnel boring machines (TBMs), Rexy and Renny, have completed their excavation work from Renforth Drive in Mississauga to just west of Scarlett Road in Etobicoke.
Over the past two years, these 750-tonne, 131-metre-long TBMs have excavated around 1.2 million tonnes of soil and rock. In the process, they also installed more than 52,000 pre-cast concrete segments, forming 7,433 rings to support the tunnel walls.
The tunnels are part of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, which will eventually add 9.2 kilometres of rapid transit service and seven new stations.
The route will connect with the existing Eglinton Crosstown LRT, creating a continuous line running from Scarborough through midtown Toronto to Mississauga.
Following this milestone, crews are now focusing on work at the extraction shaft and the future tunnel portal, where the line will shift from underground to a 1.5-kilometre elevated segment running between Scarlett Road and Jane Street.
Preparations are also underway to extend the tunnel eastward from Jane Street to Mount Dennis Station, linking the extension to the existing Crosstown line.
