LRT tunnelling back on track after stop-work order lifted

Digging on Edmonton's Valley Line LRT tunnels could resume within the next couple of days after a stop-work order was lifted Monday by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety.

The order, which had been in effect since Dec. 4, brought the project to a halt while additional safety measures were put in place.

It has meant there has been no activity at the entrance to the tunnels in the area of 102nd Avenue and 95th Street since that time.

"We're in the process of getting ready to go back to tunnelling for the LRT tunnels," said Dean Heuman with TransEd, the partnership building the project.

Occupational Health and Safety officers ordered work to stop on the two tunnels being constructed for future northbound and southbound trains after a spot check.

They called for additional safety procedures to protect workers in the event of an emergency such as a cave-in down in the tunnels, which are up to 20 metres underground.

It will not affect our overall schedule- Dean Heuman

"It's been a good exercise with (Occupational Health and Safety) and we worked together and have come up with a reasonable solution," Heuman said Tuesday.

The specific concern about providing safety areas to workers in the tunnels during any possible collapse has been addressed, he explained.

"We have some specialty tents that allow for some additional safety places," Heuman said. "The tents are right down where we are digging so they continually move along where we're digging."

Order lifted after inspection 

In addition to the reinforced tents, TransEd has also arranged for more oxygen tanks and breathing apparatus to be available in the tunnels which are six metres in diameter he said.

"They have complied with what we wanted," said Trent Bancarz, a spokesperson for Alberta Labour.

Bancarz said the project was given the green light to resume at 8:30 p.m. Monday following an inspection by Occupational Health and Safety officers.

"There is an area where workers can go should they be isolated from their primary escape route, and it will certainly help keep them safe if there is an incident or any type of emergency," he said.

Heuman said the work time lost because of the order will not delay the project given the 400-metre long tunnels are already three-quarters of the way to being finished.

The tunnels will break through the river bank at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park. Trains will cross the river over a new bridge on the line to Mill Woods.  

"We're just going to continue at the same pace we were before and we will be out this spring and it will not affect our overall schedule," Heuman said.

He said digging should get back underway within a few days but some preparatory work needs to be completed.

The southeast leg of the Valley line LRT will connect downtown Edmonton to Mill Woods. It is scheduled to open by December 2020. At a cost of $1.8 billion, it is the largest construction project in Edmonton's history.

Valley Line West, a 14-km rail extension that will connect downtown to Lewis Farms, is expected to be complete by 2025.