By Ashley Karen
Work on Vancouver’s $1.728bn Broadway Subway project has achieved another milestone, with the first of two 6m diameter Herrenknect tunnel boring machines that started excavation last October boring through into the future Mount Pleasant Station on the evening of Jan. 23, 2023.
The TBM broke through the station’s east wall and is named Elsie after the notable B.C.-born aircraft designer Elizabeth (Elsie) MacGill.
The Acciona-Ghella Joint Venture has constructed the Broadway Subway Project, which is said to develop the Millennium Line 5.7km from VCC-Clark Station to West Broadway and Arbutus Street, supplying people with fast, convenient SkyTrain service throughout the Broadway corridor.
The advancement is claimed to be continued on the project. The second machine is named Phyllis after a well-known B.C. naturalist and mountain climber, Phyllis Munday. It started boring on November 29, 2022. Phyllis is predicted to reach Mount Pleasant Station by spring 2023. Each tunnel boring machine will take roughly one year to travel from Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station to Cypress Street near the future Arbutus Station.
Looking at other parts of the project, the 21 columns for the guideway between VCC-Clark Station and the future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station are approaching completion. Installation of girders for the track will start this spring as well. Digging and construction of the station foundations carry on at the Broadway-City Hall, Oak-VGH, South Granville and Arbutus station sites in trial for the tunnel boring machine’s arrivals. It is expected to have the line operational in 2026.
Moreover, the project will support new transit-oriented developments, which create efficient, livable communities and maximize the opportunities provided by the investment government is making in public transit.
According to the estimations, the Broadway Subway Project will generate over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction, supporting economic development within the region and beyond.
For the timelapse video, visit here.
View Elsie breaking through Mount Pleasant Station wall:
