By rosebell
As the largest TBM ever used in Quebec, the 9.7m-diameter Herrenknecht machine that is due to excavate Montreal metro’s Blue Line extension has arrived in the city and will construct a 4.6km tunnel to Anjou, a first in the Montreal metro system.
Following that this machine arrived at the Port of Montreal, its components were transported to the site of the future Vertières station in mainly night-time operations.
While the scheduled for commissioning this TBM is spring next year, in preparation for the TBM’s journey, vertical excavation of the Vertières and Madeleine-Parent stations has been completed.
With the aim of building the 26m-deep shaft at the Vertières station site, 74,000m3 of soil and rock were removed, whereas this quantity at the future Madeleine-Parent station was 63,000m3 of rock for a 29m-deep shaft.
Considering that excavation work also planned or undergoing for the construction of seven auxiliary buildings, the future Anjou underground garage and several operational infrastructures, this means that more than 15 major projects will be carried out simultaneously.
The 2031 is determined date for inauguration of these stations.
According to Maha Clour, head of the Blue Line Project Office: “For the past year, work on the Blue Line extension has been moving forward on schedule, and tangible progress has been made. Vertical excavation is now complete for two of the future stations, and work continues simultaneously at the other sites. At the future Vertières station, horizontal excavation has already begun, with our teams now digging a portion of the tunnel eastward to accommodate the tunnel boring machine. Digging is also under way on the westbound tunnel toward Saint-Michel station.”
Also in order to voting on a name for the TBM, the Blue Line Project Office will soon invite the public.
As a key development project in the east end of Montréal, the 6km metro extension of the Blue Line Project is going to add five stations east of Saint-Michel station, bringing the Blue Line into Anjou. The project is a collaboration between five partner organisations: the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable, the Autorité régionale du transport métropolitain, the City of Montréal, the Société québécoise des infrastructures, and the Société de transport de Montréal.
