Quarters Tunnel

Client

City Edmonton, Canada

Contractor

Main Contractor: TransEd LRT (Bechtel-EllisDon Construction Joint Venture)
BeMo Tunnelling as Consultant for SEM/NATM:
Supervision, Know-how Transfer, key personnel and plant on site;
1 Senior SEM/NATM Tunnel Manager/Engineer,
2 SEM/NATM Operating Superintendents,
2 SEM/NATM Operators,
1 SEM/NATM Surveyor (instruction of the site crew)

Project location

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Start of construction

2016

End of construction

2018

Project total value

2 million €

Geology

Glacial Till partly permeated with water-bearing sand lenses (up
to 1.5 m thick).
Bedrock below Glacial Till with layers of carbon and bentonite.

Technical Data

Know-how Transfer of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) for the construction of an inner-city twin-tube tunnel.
The Valley Line (LRT-System = Light Rail Transit) will connect the south-east with the west through downtown Edmonton by a 27 km
long line including 25 stops.
The first phase (13.1 km) will include the Quarters Tunnel at the intersection between 102nd Avenue, Jasper Avenue and along the
95th Street:
• Southbound Tunnel Length: approx. 393.00 m
• Northbound Tunnel Length: approx. 402.00 m
• excavation by tunnel excavator SEM/NATM using spile umbrellas
• installation of pipe arch canopies at the tunnel portals
The Transfer of Know-how contains the following services:
• constructability reviews, plant studies and equipment selection
• site set-up, ventilation requirements
• assistance in ventilation issues and various SEM/NATM related issues
• shotcrete mix design

Further project related information

• excavation of a tunnel in urban environment using SEM/NATM and spile umbrellas; shallow overburden (only 3.50 m) at the underpass of the intersection Jasper Ave
• extreme weather conditions (up to -30°C)