Tunnelling Starts on Toronto’s Coxwell Bypass

TORONTO — The City of Toronto has officially kicked off its Coxwell Bypass Tunnel project.Mayor John Tory and Councillor Jennifer McKelvie, vice-chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, officially marked the beginning of tunnel boring on Dec.

14. Boring will be undertaken using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) nicknamed Donnie.The project is the first stage of the Don River and Central Waterfront Wet Weather Flow System, one of five connected projects to improve water quality in the Lower Don River, Taylor-Massey Creek and along Toronto’s Inner Harbour, stated a release.

The City is spending more than $3 billion to prevent combined sewer overflows into such waterways as the Don River and Lake Ontario.The TBM will dig a 6.3-metre-diameter, 10.5-kilometre-long tunnel approximately 50 metres deep, parallel to the Don River.