The Evergreen Line's tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be leaving Port Moody by the end of the summer as it inches its way below Clarke Road towards Coquitlam.
The machine is still at Clarke and Seaview Drive undergoing planned maintenance but will be on the move again in mid to late August, Evergreen's executive project director Amanda Farrell told PoMo city councillors on Tuesday.
The next planned tool change for the machine's cutter head will be just south of Robinson Street in Coquitlam, with preparatory work already underway.
"That's the last major tool change before the breakthrough," Farrell said.
Progress in the tunnel has been slowed due to several sinkholes that have opened up on the road surface while crews perform maintenance work on the TBM. EGRT, the contractor building the Evergreen Line, has blamed the sinkholes on sandy soil in the area.
The delays have pushed back the opening of the Evergreen Line from summer 2016 to the fall.
Progress on other parts of the line has continued on schedule, Farrell said. The project is now 70% complete overall; stations are 70% to 85% complete and the tunnel is just over the halfway point.
Guideway construction and track work are complete, and test trains have been running between Lougheed Town Centre and Burquitlam since July 11.
"We will continue to test trains during off-peak times on weekends when the SkyTrain is not too busy and we can borrow a train, so it's a great milestone for us," Farrell said.
In Port Moody the project team is working to identify potential applications for the fence along Clarke Road, Farrell said, and tree planting will start in the fall.
[email protected]
@spayneTC
