Broadway Subway TBM ready for launch

The two Herrenknecht TBMs, each with a 6m diameter, will be launched separately from the Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station and will bore 5km to reach their destination at Cypress Street, near the future Arbutus Station.

Elsie, named after Elsie MacGill, the first woman aeronautical engineer and professional aircraft designer in the world, will start tunnelling first. Phyllis, named after nurse and mountaineer Phyllis Munday, is being assembled and is expected to begin work this winter.

Each TBM will to take about a year to dig the subway’s inbound and outbound tunnels.

In preparation for the TBMs, tunnel liner rings, manufactured in Nanaimo, were transported to the construction site as crews built the concrete base slab and assembled the conveyor system to transport the excavated material out of the tunnel. At the same time, work is progressing on the elevated guideway and station locations along the line, including relocating utilities, building traffic decks and excavation.

The Broadway Subway Project Corporation, an Acciona-Ghella joint venture, has the contract for the project’s design and construction.

The Broadway Subway will provide a 5.7km extension to the Millennium Line from VCC-Clark Station to Broadway and Arbutus, providing a SkyTrain service along the Broadway corridor. It is due to open in 2025.