The Niagara Tunnel project has been successfully completed in Ontario – the largest hydroelectric project to come into service in the Canadian province for the past 50 years the government has announced.
The new tunnel, which is more than 10km in length, is channelling additional water from the Niagara River to flow to the 2000MW Sir Adam Beck Generating Station at a rate of 500m3/sec.
Commenting on the successful completion, Bob Chiarelli, Minister of Energy, said: "This project is a source of pride as an engineering feat and as a practical solution for meeting Ontario’s energy needs through clean sources. The completion of this project will provide Ontario with a source of clean energy for the next 100 years."
Design/build contractor on the project was Strabag. Tunnel excavation, using the world’s largest hard-rock TBM supplied by Robbins, was completed last spring.