Massive machines that dug long tunnels for LRT line in Mississauga taken from ground
Published July 20, 2024 at 1:15 pm
The two massive tunnel-boring machines tasked since 2022 to dig out the underground portion of a new light-rail transit line in east Mississauga and Toronto have now officially completed their job.
The final pieces of the TBMs were lifted out of the ground on Friday by a giant crane (see photos below), project leaders with provincial transportation agency Metrolinx said in a post to social media.
“The last big lift for Rexy and Renny,” Metrolinx said in a post to X, referencing the names given to the huge TBMs via a public naming contest. “Here’s what it looked like as the final TBM piece was lifted out of the ground. The gantry makes up the tail of a TBM and this one weighs about 20 tonnes.”
The actual tunnelling work for the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension LRT line was completed the end of May when the second TBM completed its lengthy underground journey.
Having set out from its launch shaft in Mississauga to begin the daily digging job in April 2022, the TBM dubbed Renny emerged from the fully-dug tunnel on May 22 in west Toronto to move the ECWE one step closer to completion.
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Renny’s subterranean partner, Rexy — the two were named as a nod to areas in Mississauga and Toronto — completed its earth-moving trip on April 26. Though it was launched into action some three months after Renny in late July/early August of 2022, Rexy was first to complete the task.
The TBMs, built in Germany and brought to Canada in early 2022 before going into the ground a few months later, each travelled 6.3 kilometres in finishing their underground work.
The massive TBMs measure 131 metres long and weigh 750 tonnes, according to Metrolinx. They moved eastward from Mississauga at 10 to 15 metres per day.
The names Renny and Rexy reference Renforth Station in east Mississauga and the Rexdale neighbourhood in northwest Toronto located adjacent to the ECWE.
(Photos: Metrolinx)
The Eglinton Crosstown West Extension is a 9.2-kilometre above ground/underground light-rail transit 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 seven 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 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 is also being strongly considered.
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.
Metrolinx told INsauga.com the completed extension will create “a continuous rapid transit line that stretches from Mississauga, through midtown Toronto and all the way to Scarborough. The extension will run from the future Mount Dennis Station to Renforth Drive, with seven new stations along the way.”
The ECWE will also “connect to other local and regional transit options, including UP Express and GO Transit rail services, TTC bus services, and MiWay and GO Transit bus services along the 18-kilometre Mississauga Transitway. When combined with the future Eglinton Crosstown LRT, riders will also be able to connect to three TTC subway stations and the Stouffville GO train line.”
