Ontario Construction News staff writer
In a Canadian first, crews building the Hazel McCallion Line pushed a concrete passageway under the Lakeshore West rail tracks at the Port Credit GO Station using a revolutionary engineering method known as the Verona System. This advanced technology ensured that service on the Lakeshore West Line could continue during construction.
The passageway – called a push box – will be a tunnel for future light rail vehicles to travel in and out of Port Credit Station once the Hazel McCallion Line is in service.
Preparatory work for the push box included the shoring and excavation of the east side of the south parking lot at Port Credit GO, and the installation of the thrust block and launch slab which were used during the push box installation.
Recent work included jacking the final 30 meters, the removal of four rows of micro-piles and the excavation of more than 5,000 cubic metres of earth from inside the push box – which is equivalent to two Olympic sized pools.
At 46 m, the push box is as long as three train locomotives. It incorporates a partition wall that will effectively separate northbound and southbound trains. The box weighs approximately 6,000 tonnes, equivalent to the weight of around 1,200 adult elephants.
South of the push box, crews have been progressing with platform level slab concrete work. They are now working on the walls up to street level. This concrete work also includes provisions for mechanical and electrical systems, future elevators, and a future tunnel ventilation system.
More than 2,500 cubic metres of concrete have been poured to date for the service and platform levels of the future Port Credit Station of the Hazel McCallion Line.
