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    1. Rail
    2. Infrastructure

    Metrolinx announces Highway 401 and 409 Rail Tunnels Project reaches halfway excavation mark in Tunnel One

    July 1, 2020
    Crews working on a tunneling project at the junction of Ontario Highway 401 and 409 have made strides on the first of two passages, and are moving into the second one.
    Metrolinx
    East portal: Tunnel One has surpassed the 50 per cent excavation mark. Shotcrete is applied using robotic technology fed by a cement truck.
    East portal: Tunnel One has surpassed the 50 per cent excavation mark. Shotcrete is applied using robotic technology fed by a cement truck.

    Metrolinx says crews have surpassed 50 percent of Tunnel One excavation and are now tunneling under the westbound lanes of Highway 401, along a major rail route, where that expressway meets Highway 409.

    Excavation of the upper section in Tunnel Two is also underway and progressing well at 10 percent completion. 

    The Highway 401 and 409 Rail Tunnels Project is part of the GO Rail Expansion program, which will transform the Kitchener line from a rush hour commuter service to a rapid transit experience. When complete, the length of each rail tunnel under Highway 401 and 409 will be approximately 180 meters (590 feet), or about 360 meters (1,181 feet) when combined. 

    The new tunnels are being constructed using the Sequential Excavation Method (SEM), a way of tunnelling that splits the excavation into segments. This approach empties the tunnel in bite size amounts. The upper portion of the tunnel is considered one segment and the lower section of the tunnel is another segment. 

    The crew applies shotcrete between segments, which is concrete that is sprayed onto the inner surface of the tunnel to provide reinforcement and strength to retain its shape. Crews have already sprayed approximately 3,400 cubic meters of shotcrete. A concrete truck shuttles concrete to a robotic shotcrete machine to manage this fundamental layer of work. The technology provides the proper pressure to set the concrete in place. 

    Excavating 110 meters (360 feet) amounted to 1,650 cubic meters of material, filling 165 dump trucks at Tunnel One. Tunnel Two had its fair share of excavation with enough material to fill 39 truckloads and counting. 

    At the west portal, crews have completed installation of the pre-support pipes installed with an auger boring machine. The pipe and bore process involved horizontal jacking, pushing pipes directly above the future tunnel acting as a support roof. The auger removes the earth that collects in the long pipes during drilling. 

    The 813-millimeter (2.7 foot) diameter steel pipes form a canopy to support the structure of the tunnel. Auger boring began in summer 2019 and is now complete. 

    The new tunnels will provide space for two additional tracks in the future, bringing communities two-way, all-day train service on the Kitchener GO corridor.