Since the year 2005, STRABAG has been present in Canada in the fields of civil and ground engineering as well as tunnelling. "We had entered the market with our first, successful project in Canada – the planning and the construction of a water diversion tunnel at the Niagara Falls. In this project the world’s largest hard-rock tunnel boring machine was deployed," recalls Thomas Birtel, CEO of STRABAG SE. Ever since, most of the jobs STRABAG has been engaging in Canada have involved the construction of tunnels and shafts. The latest contract has solidified the company’s presence there.
The Mid-Halton Outfall Tunnel will consist of two reaches: The onshore reach will span 4.1km, while another, 2.2km reach will be built offshore, ending in a diffuser array beneath Lake Ontario. A TBM with an excavation diameter of 3.6m will mainly drill through layers of shale and limestone. Construction is set to begin in mid-July 2014 and is expected to be completed within 39 months.
