Second tunnel boring machine finishes journey to Oak-VGH Station

Tunnel-boring machine Elsie has joined Phyllis at the future Oak-VGH Station, signaling a new milestone for the Broadway Subway Project in Vancouver, built by the Ghella Acciona JV.

The future Oak-VGH Station is the fourth of six underground stations on the tunnel-boring route. Elsie, named after the famous aeronautical designer Elizabeth (Elsie) MacGill, broke through the station’s east wall on October 28th, just after 10 a.m., following the project’s other tunnel boring machine, Phyllis, which arrived on October 12th. They have each constructed two kilometres of parallel tunnels and together have installed more than 2,680 concrete tunnel liner rings since departing from Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. TBM Phyllis will prepare to launch towards South Granville shortly, while TBM Elsie will follow once scheduled maintenance is complete.

The project, once completed, will provide numerous benefits: it will relieve congestion on the Broadway corridor, transit riders can enjoy faster travel, better access to businesses and services, and fewer cars on the road. Once in service, the trip between VCC-Clark and Arbutus stations will take 11 minutes, saving the average public transit commuter almost 30 minutes a day.

People will have better access to Vancouver General Hospital and the rest of the medical district from the future Oak-VGH Station, located on the southwest corner of Broadway and Laurel Street. During construction, a pedestrian bridge above the excavated station maintains access to businesses and services and keeps people moving around the work at this location.

Construction of the concrete walls, columns and floors is underway in various stages at all six stations, and the first section of concrete floor for the concourse level has been installed at the future Mount Pleasant Station. At the 700-metre-long elevated guideway section that connects the Broadway Subway Project to the existing Millennium Line, crews continue to build the concrete deck in preparation for track work.

The project, which is creating more than 13,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase, supports new transit-oriented developments, which will create efficient, connected communities where people can easily access public transit and have their day-to-day needs conveniently met close to home.