After two years of excavation, the tunnel boring machine used for the work of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) has completed the construction of a 3 km tunnel that will connect Montreal airport to the rest of the network.

CDPQ Infra, which manages the REM project, will officially announce it on Thursday.

The tunnel boring machine is located 30 meters underground, at the entrance to the future YUL-Airport-Montreal-Trudeau station, which has yet to be built.

According to CPDQ Infra, this is the first time in Quebec that a tunnel boring machine capable of both digging through rock and assembling the segments of the concrete walls has been used.

Now complete, the tunnel should be ready to accommodate future system-related equipment, including rails and electromechanical equipment.

One of the challenges faced by the teams during the excavation was to avoid any ground movement on the surface, where the take-off and landing strips were located.

With a length of 155 meters, the tunnel boring machine drills the ground over more than seven meters in diameter. The cutting wheel is made up of 47 discs which put a lot of pressure and allow you to cut down the ground.

The cuttings are then evacuated by an endless screw and then on a conveyor belt. At the end of the tunnel boring machine, these pieces are evacuated in trucks. Afterwards, the erector places segments to form a completely watertight ring.

Over the next few months, the teams will proceed with the dismantling of the tunnel boring machine structure.

Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) will be responsible for building the station that will lead to the tunnel. The organization had however indicated that it would not be able to complete the work for the planned inauguration of the REM in 2024. However, no date has yet been advanced for the inauguration of the future airport station.