| Project Detail |
FCC is working on the Toronto-York Spadina Subway extension in Canada, which includes constructing the Northern tunnels and the Highway 407 station.
The project consists of building a 4.5 km underground section with three stations in between, York University Station (only temporary works), Steeles West Station (not included in this contract) and Highway 407 Station, as well as an area for manoeuvres and parking (SEM). There will be three emergency exits, three connecting cross-galleries, an extraction shaft to remove the tunnel boring machine, and three working shafts.
The Highway 407 Station is a newly built subway station that is 165 m long, 22 m wide and 23 m deep; with a central platform and three levels, two underground and one on ground level. The ground level station is made up of a Y-shaped building with a metal structure and curtain walls. It has a bus station and a car park with 600 spaces. All of the architectural installations and finishes are carried out.
Two parallel tunnels are being built, each 4.5 km long with an inner diameter of 5.4 m. The separation between the tunnel axes is 13.6 m. The lining consists of 1.5 m long rings made up of 4 +2 concrete segments, each 0.235 m thick.
The tunnel is constructed using two EPB tunnel boring machines in three stages: the first from the working shaft (LS1), moving south until reaching the shaft before the manoeuvres and parking area, with a total length of 1.672 km. The tunnel boring machines are dissembled and transported to the second tunnel drive in the Highway 407 station, and excavation is carried out southbound until reaching the Steeles West station, with a total length of 1.024 km. The tunnel boring machines are again dissembled and transported to the third tunnel drive in the Highway 407 station, and excavation is carried out northbound until reaching the end of the line (Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station), with a total length of 936 m.
The Manoeuvres and Parking area is 221 m long and consists of three drying tunnels with a similar cross-section to that of the line executed using the NATM method (also known as Sequential Excavation Method – SEM) from two working shafts, one at each end.
Remarkable aspects
It will provide the citizens with an underground train service between the city of Toronto and Vaughan.
During the construction process two EPB tunnel boring machines will be used.
It is the first time a tunnel has been constructed using NATM in Toronto. |
