Visiting a MASSIVE Tunnel Boring Machine on the Eglinton West Extension!

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We got to go behind the scenes to see the technology that makes modern subways (and much more) possible - the Tunnel Boring Machine. Come with us as we take a look at how a metro tunnel is built!
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Ever wondered why your city's transit just doesn't seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!
Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.

Опубликовано:

28 апр 2023

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Комментарии : 245

@RMTransit Год назад

Fun fact: Many tunnel boring machines are used once, or even left in the ground (the ones for the Chunnel are still sitting under the channel!)

@Repleh Год назад

yep, it’s cheaper to leave them down there because TBMs are specifically built for each tunnel. not much reusability.

@soviut303 Год назад

@@Repleh I recall seeing that in places where they're used heavily (Switzerland, as I recall) some have been reactivated to continue certain tunnels years later.

@AlexandreJWKlaus Год назад

also, for some really good examples of detailed explanations of tbms, marti group's youtube has some tunnel boring machine videos that are very good explainers

@msg5507 Год назад

While this is true of the cutterheads and shields, a lot of the TBM parts, including the drives, can be taken out of the ground and repurposed. A couple of TBMs being put into service on the Sydney West Metro tunnels were previously used in the Sydney Northwest, City and Southwest Metro tunnels, and in between were used for Brisbane's Cross River Rail tunnels.

@LightbulbTedbear2 Год назад

The cutting head that was used for the DLR extension to Bank is still in the tunnel - it's now a pedestrian tunnel and you can walk through it!

@CharlieND Год назад

They may be boring machines, but they're definitely not boring machines.

@stevengalloway8052 Год назад

Brilliant! 👏 👏 😆

@heathermmartin16 Год назад

🏆

@terrygelinas4593 Год назад

I dig your humour

@RMTransit Год назад

Exactly, they are so complex and powerful!

@DrSaxon3 Год назад

@Charlie ND I was just thinking that

@brentfoster9138 Год назад

This extension should be ready just in time for phase one’s ribbon cutting. Christ, my 10 year old daughter wasn’t even a twinkle in my wife’s eye when this albatross started. Bravo Metrolinx.

@rabbitfang48 Год назад

Thanks for talking about how TBMs turn; I haven't seen that mentioned much in other TBM videos I've seen. Another thing I'm curious about is how do they dig out the stations, especially when they are deep enough where cut & cover isn't an option (and similarly, digging for crossovers).

@RMTransit Год назад

Cut and cover is an option! Its how most stations are built TBMs or not - its how most happened on Eglinton.

@quillmaurer6563 Год назад

I'd think the limitation on cut and cover isn't depth, but if building under existing infrastructure or buildings they don't want to destroy.

@haweater1555 Год назад

It's done before, at the Eastern Access tracks far deep under New York City's Grand Central. But cut & cover wasn't an option.

@rosskgilmour Год назад

Can’t imagine being one of the men digging below the Thames with an original tunnel shield way back in the day. Great video. It’s amazing thah these machines can do it all. From gas pipelines to base tunnels.

@WhiskyCanuck Год назад

I imagine a lot of the heat in the tunnel is from all the friction of the TBM's cutting wheel grinding all that rock. All that friction would put out a lot of heat.

@RMTransit Год назад

Yep, thats a huge component of it!

@youtube79z Год назад

plus there's soil insulation on all sides, nowhere for the heat to dissipate

@cannabeans Год назад

Surprisingly, no. I'm one of the electricians on this machine. most of the heat is from the frequency drives for our motors and the large transformers that take the 13.2kv source down to 600v.

@tonamiplayman4305 Год назад

@@cannabeans What's the drive power of this machine? I know the Herrenknecht 7m diameter EPB TBMs used on the Doha metro were 1.44MW, so even at 90% efficiency, that's 144kW of waste heat. A standard space heater is about 1.5kW. So A single TBM will be emitting about 100X the heat in a tight insulated environment.

@Valery0p5 11 месяцев назад

Also if you are under a mountain temperatures can go up pretty rapidly the deeper you are

@fl-v8843 Год назад

I'm really impressed by this video. You've explained some things about TBMs that I've never seen explained across all the TV documentaries and youtube videos I've seen on them: 6:10 Using one TBM as a pilot seems obvious but for whatever reason I've never heard it talked about 9:17 While I've heard about pressurised cutting heads (even one documentary where they opened a forward hatch to inspect a cave-in) I've never seen anyone mention the obvious issue that that soil needs de-pressurising before it can be put on the conveyor 10:05 Documentaries rarely seem to talk about the launching process, often just showing a time-lapse, and to my knowledge they don't show people around during that time either. So it never occurred that there's no inherent structure to push off at launch, in fact the transitionary structure between an often square single tunnel mouth into paired tunnel ring sections is a mystery I'd love to know 10:54 The shield that overlaps the tunnel lining is often only implied but I've never heard mention how that moving seal is created with brushes coated in viscous grease

@RTSRafnex2 Год назад

You really have to watch the videos of the Marti Group here on youtube. Most of your points are explained in detail.

@hankmoody7521 Год назад

It's somewhat crazy, that a somewhat small but still family owned business from the german black forest is enabling so many infrastructure projects. Herrenknecht is doing a fantastic job.

@DownieLive Год назад

As far as boring videos go, this is the MOST BORING video I have ever seen... I loved it! Thanks Reece!

@RMTransit Год назад

Thanks Mike! I don't find your videos boring, but I agree that this video is boring!

@knarf_on_a_bike Год назад

I literally ride past Renforth Station along the Eglinton bike route every weekday - twice, to and from work. It's very exciting seeing all the work being done there. Now I have a better idea what's going on. Thanks for this video!

@RMTransit Год назад

It's super exciting!

@quoniam426 Год назад

When you know that over 20 of them are used at the same time to dig the Grand Paris Express...

@RMTransit Год назад

Yeah, Toronto will probably have about 5 - 6 in the ground at once, IIRC Moscow has the record

@Barnaclebeard Год назад

dot dot dot what??

@stevengalloway8052 Год назад

😳 Krispy Kreme donuts?! No Tim Horton's?! I'm very impressed, sir! 👏👍

@RMTransit Год назад

I wasn't sure how to feel about them!

@slashmaster2 Год назад

A TBM makes a JACKASS sound!💯

@MartinBrenner Год назад

Herrenknecht TBMs at work again :) These concrete lining elements are called tübbing in German, a term from the mining industry, there seems to be an English equivalent, tubbing, but I don't know if that is commonly used. Great video!

@davidreichert9392 Год назад

It sounds cooler if we just keep the German word.

@RMTransit Год назад

I'd just say tunnel ring

@barryrobbins7694 Год назад

Yes, the difference in terminology is quite interesting. Tubbing in English can also mean: A hazing ritual in which the victim's head is held underwater. :)

@andrewclarkson3401 Год назад

Fascinating! I have been curious about these machines. I pass by Richview Park at least once a week, and always wonder how it is going below ground. Those machines are a lot bigger than I thought!

@RMTransit Год назад

Yep, they are enormous!

@OntarioTrafficMan Год назад

Eglinton LRT tunnels are bigger than subway tunnels because the vehicles are taller. They have over 6m diameter while subway tunnels are 5.4m (Sheppard) or 5.6m(TYSSE)

@MarioFanGamer659 Год назад

@@OntarioTrafficMan It's interesting that this is the case but it also makes sense because low-floor LRV do take some sacrifices for floor space and put the remaining equipment on the ceiling.

@OntarioTrafficMan Год назад

@@MarioFanGamer659 Exactly. Subway trains are generally designed to fit in a small tube (similar width and height, with rounded corners) while trams are designed to fit in tight spaces on the road, so they are narrower and taller (due to equipment on the roof, and overhead power collection and often no consideration for minimising the tunnel radius by rounding the corners of the roof).

@gkwlsdk29 Год назад

me too!

@nickycha8428 Год назад

I was lucky to observe the NYC sand hogs work on city tunnel number 3. They are tough, smart, and professional. CTN3 was excavated by a TBM and was completed in 2012.

@eltronics Год назад

THAT was interesting.... Don't think I have ever seen a documentary with so intimate details. Thanks.

@Jer_Schmidt Год назад

Thanks for the video, super interesting!!

@Hollandstation Год назад

it's so fascinating to see it in operation!

@RMTransit Год назад

I agree, it's amazing! Surprisingly relaxed environment in there!

@edwardmiessner6502 Год назад

Fascinating! I hope once this project is complete, Toronto has another project for the tunnel boring machines to start on.

@RMTransit Год назад

They generally aren't reused!

@TaiViinikka Год назад

@@RMTransit Makes sense if there are no connecting tunnels, but couldn't Dennis, Lea, Don, or Humber have been used to dig the Eg West?

@bdhaliwal24 Год назад

Fantastic video. Thanks for bringing this to us!

@definitelynotacrab7651 Год назад

Thats an awesome experience, thanks for letting us get to see it!

@Paul_inDC Год назад

Wow - great explanation, super clear and concise! As others have noted, particularly appreciated the explanation of how the TBMs execute curves. Thank you!

@Mystro256 Год назад

The idea of having the hurontario line connect with the TTC by converting the trainsitway to an LRT would be amazing. I can't wait. I just came back from Japan and their train system makes me very jealous.

@RailRide Год назад

Portions of Ottawa's bus transitway were repurposed for the present-day light rail right-of-way.

@ronh2660 Год назад

Fascinating. Thanks for your work

@een_schildpad Год назад

So cool!!! Thanks for taking us along on the tour!! 🙌

@alank1995 Год назад

Fantastic video! Thanks for sharing

@Barnaclebeard Год назад

That's sick. It totally reminded me of a small space craft or one of those 90s Abyss-oid movies.

@polyhedraldreams9905 Год назад

I think the Eglinton West Extension will open before the Eglinton Crosstown.

@justsomeguy5103 Год назад

I have worked on a couple of drill and blast tunneling projects, but never TBM (as they haven't gained much traction in Norway). This video was a delightful mix of very familiar and utterly foreign concepts.

@eltodesukane Год назад

Very interesting. Thanks for the visit.

@RMTransit Год назад

Thanks for watching!

@willwray8511 Год назад

Your best video yet, so interesting. Amazing to see what is involved in this huge undertaking

@RMTransit Год назад

Thanks fo much for that!

@JackyValentine129 Год назад

Wow. This is amazing

@SaturnCanuck Год назад

Reece that was awesome! I want to see more of this. Keep it up

@jamesboulton9632 Год назад

Really great explanation of how a TBM operates , its incredible that someone developed this system ,its quite complex !

@mdhazeldine Год назад

I remember going to visit the Eurotunnel museum down in Folkestone when they were building the Channel Tunnel. Pretty sure I saw one of the TBMs there, or at least one of the cutting heads. Crazy how huge they are!

@RMTransit Год назад

Yeah I think they have a cutting head, they need to put more of those in stations etc!

@kartik_sinha Год назад

This is cool stuff right here. Maybe the best video you have made so far.

@RMTransit Год назад

Thanks! If you enjoyed it give it a share!

@jacktattersall9457 Год назад

6.5 meters diameter: that's a bigger tunnel than the TYSSE extension to Vaughan and the ECLRT original part used. Interesting! I wonder if TBMs getting wider increases costs?

@namm0x326 Год назад

I think the bigger TBM is to decrease costs. 1 tunnel for both tracks instead of digging 2 tunnels right beside each other. Of course it does massively increase spoil removal etc so I think there are several tradeoffs involved, but I believe the choice for a bigger TBM this time was to reduce costs.

@peterholzer4481 Год назад

@@namm0x326 He mentioned at 6:00 that they are boring two tunnels.

@jacktattersall9457 Год назад

@@namm0x326 Their are still separate twin tunnels on this Eglinton West Extension, as with the original ECLRT and TYSEE. Single bore tunnel shared by both tracks is being used on Scarborough Subway Extension, however.

@kartik_sinha Год назад

@@namm0x326 6.5 m isn't big enough for two tracks. It's still a twin tunnel but I think 6.5m is a standard siza tbm hence cheaper to aquire and get spares for if needed. Custom TBM's are generally much more expensive specially if something needs to be replaced

@RMTransit Год назад

Size doesn't increase cost all that much - bigger than the TYSSE I believe a big factor is needing to accommodate overhead!

@mikemartin77 Год назад

Awesome video Mr. Martin.

@OneOmot Год назад

This is impressive I would never be allowed/able to visit this. Nice to see how it works. Thanks for this video.

@DarthLenaPlant Год назад

I'm not sure if I remember right, but if I understood it right, I think this method of injecting a stabilizer into the soil to prevent sinkholes while installing conrete rings as the machine is moving forward is called "New Austrian Tunnel building Method" (neue Österreichische Tunnelbauweise)? We use that in a lot of projects, mainly the U5 building and the U2 extension in Vienna, but also for the Semmering base tunnel.

@Alex_Plante Год назад

Great video!

@springpink Год назад

learned so much!

@pauldevey8628 Год назад

Wow! Super good video!

@RMTransit Год назад

Thanks Paul!

@michaelanthonyvideos Год назад

Amazing technology!

@TurboTimsWorld Год назад

Great Video, I used to own a Land Rover that previously had been used to take tours for VIPs to the Channel Tunnel in the UK

@fireshorts5789 Год назад

That was incredibly informative, I didn't even know they were already working on the West extension to the Crosstown LRT.

@TheTroyc1982 Год назад

Construction started 2 years ago and the tunnel is half built already and you didn't know it was under constructions??

@ce1834 Год назад

Meanwhile Elon's Boring Company digging more lanes to sit sat in traffic underground 💀, pretty cool how trams are being used very much like a traditional subway in huge tunnels, the future airport connection will make life a lot easier lol

@o_s-24 Год назад

Sitting in traffic underground = being fried alive

@RMTransit Год назад

I would say the trams are *cool* but a subway train is a better use of a tunnel

@alexthemtaandr211weatherfa2 Год назад

What the Tesla tunnel-boring machine

@willwray8511 Год назад

Thanks!

@RMTransit Год назад

Thank you!

@robertwalsh1724 Год назад

Michigan needs a rail tunnel under the Straights of Mackinaw. The tunnels at Port Huron and Detroit are over 100 years old. Why no rail tunnel under the straights? Good topic for a show.

@bloatedblitz Год назад

would you ever make a video on the Buenos Aires Subte sometime? I can get you plenty of B-Roll if you ever do ;)

@myrtleman9623 Год назад

You are such a knowlegable young man.

@brucewilkinson8599 Год назад

Great video.

@NickCombs Год назад

Have you seen the robot swarm tunnel boring technique? It's only had a scaled demo so far, but it looks like it could make the process much faster, safer, and more flexible in terms of tunnel shape and conditions.

@RipCityBassWorks Год назад

Woah that is hella cool and hella complex. Really explains why elevated guideways generally have a lower cost than tunnels.

@captainkeyboard1007 Год назад

The first time I knew about the tunnel boring machine (TBN) was in 1982 while reading about the subway stations being built on the Washington Metro under Connecticut Avenue & Wisconsin Avenue, via the Red Line. This includes Forest Glen, as the deepest subway station in the United States, and Wheaton, as another deep station, but it is not as deep as Forest Glen. However, Wheaton has the longest escalators in the country. Also, I like some construction that consists of the tunnel boring machine being used on "soft" ground. I believe this method was used on Seventh Street for the Green and Yellow lines. I have saved many of your shows to watch as often as I wish.

@pedromorgan99 Год назад

you lucky person getting access !!!! am green with envy .... ;-))

@o_s-24 Год назад

Awsome video

@polecat3 Год назад

I love TBMs! Like man-made wyrms

@barryrobbins7694 Год назад

It would be interesting to know how many companies around the world make TBMs and how many companies use such equipment.

@flexi18g86 Год назад

Just like 5 companies produce them in only 3 countries Japan, USA and Germany, where Herrenknecht ist the biggest one.

@monicahoger Год назад

Neat! As I'm sure you're aware, Vancouver is also using tunnel boring machines to extend the Millennium line out as well. I'm not sure if their machines differ from what's being used here, but this was cool to see how the giant machines operate.

@ice401557 Год назад

One of the TBM's I've seen was one with a surprisingly small diamater. It was used to bore a sewage tunnel underneath Ajtósi Dürer sor in Budapest, Hungary.

@muralikuganesan Год назад

Hey Reese love the videos you make, just wanted to know if you were planning to make an updated video on the Hurontario LRT since it's approaching completion!

@drobertsatplay Год назад

This was great. I live right at Scarlett and Eglington so this is the reality that I and many others in this neighborhood will be experiencing. Could you explain to me how they keep this massive complex machine moving in the right direction, at the proper pitch and depth? Have there been any unexpected surprises discovered along the way? E.g. fossils, etc.? I'm as much a nerd about these technologies as you are, and the level of professionalism and research that you do in making these videos is outstanding. Keep up the great work. 👍

@TheTroyc1982 Год назад

they say way the stare it by applying more pressure to one side to turn the machine

@colintilbrook Год назад

great to see a inside look at this, even better to see some part of Toronto Transit that is a FUBAR show.

@bucket6386 Год назад

130 meters long? wow, modern engineering

@mniimykmfptd Год назад

This machine has more space then most of the apartments in downtown Toronto :-)

@RMTransit Год назад

It's not quite that tight!

@frisbeepilot Год назад

According to family lore, one of my great-grandfathers was on the team of people that dug the original St. Clair River rail tunnel from Sarnia, Ontario to Port Huron, Michigan. There were lots of pickaxes and mules involved, apparently. I bet his mind would've been blown by these massive machines.

@Fenthule Год назад

This is the kind of boring content I love from RU-vid.

@ericbruun9020 Год назад

now would be a good time to cover the long deferred Northeast Extension of the Broad Street Subway in Philadelphia. It is part ot the Mayoral debate. It would be both cut and cover and tunnel.

@RMTransit Год назад

That's what advocates have proposed - but we'd have to see what transit agencies etc want to do

@anthonysaunders345 Год назад

Not at all what my imagination pictured. No wonder those machines are so expensive! I wonder whether we own them or lease them. Considering mass transit plans for GTA's future, we might as well own them.

@RMTransit Год назад

They own them, they are generally single use!

@stevenczikk8730 Год назад

Very cool, although I wish they had gone with an at/above grade alignment for this leg of the line. Lord knows there is plenty of space.

@-PORK-CHOP- Год назад

Would have been good to see how they supply power to the machine as it's progressing

@DGotliebVids Год назад

I'm so fascinated with how you successfully arrive at your destination with out being able to see where you're going. I wonder what the margin of error is on where you pop out on the other end.

@shifty7082 Год назад

Reese! Can you please make a video discussing the protocols transit authorities use and the consequences to service of people who trespass on subway tracks? It's an activity that's becoming more common for urban explorers in Toronto and I'd love to know what the effect is on commuters.

@williamerazo3921 Год назад

Now do a cut n cover construction site

@EdGreenTO Год назад

Dense, historic Golden Mile in Scarborough: no tunnel for you people. Vast open lands of Etobicoke: tunnel away!

@MarekThatGuy Год назад

The Golden Mile is just a large parking lot. There isn't much that isn't a parking lot. That's about as much anti-transit and anti-pedestrian as you can get in North America.

@ALuimes Год назад

This will be the first intermodal station where the non-TTC rapid transit station (and line) was built first.

@Ktsquare2008 Год назад

May I talk about a northwest extension of line 5 from the planned extension to Pearson? Guideline #1 says staying on topic

@LadyJennivieve Год назад

Was there a bathroom anywhere down there?

@rp.aguilera Год назад

wait! "ahead of schedule" where????

@TheTroyc1982 Год назад

Yes, the extension ahead of schedule currently. The gap between the extension and main line opening is shrinking every day.

@loucololosse Год назад

My god, you are publishing videos like a machine gun man! You know you can take a break?

@stevengalloway8052 Год назад

Won't happen. He's obsessed... 😆

@RMTransit Год назад

I am not making them any faster than 2 weeks or 2 months ago. 2 videos a week!

@loucololosse Год назад

maybe it's because they show more on my feed

@brentfoster9138 Год назад

He’ll rest when metrolinx tells him to.

@thelettermradio5251 Год назад

Quick question for you. Is this extension of the Eglinton LRT going to have any turnaround points? As a person who rides Line 2 a lot, there have been a couple of times over the years that the subway has had to temporarily stop service due to an event either taking place at one of the stations, or within the tunnel. Anticipating this, Line 2 has places where the tunnel splits into three, allowing for trains to move to the middle portion, (most of the experience I've had with this happens at the turnaround between Ossington and Christie Stations) and turn around if needed. I'd imagine that something like this would be needed in the Eglinton tunnels in the event that there is an issue, and service needs to be paused without bringing the whole line to a standstill. have any of these been built, and if so, how might building something like this happen?

@andrewstevens2364 Год назад

What do you know about the Austin Tx Project connect and the downtown subway?

@teetee2799 Год назад

I think they are going to use one of these tunnel boring machine on the Yongon Metro construction,btw Yongon is a city located in the Southeast Asian country of Burma.The Yongon Metro it's going to be opened on 2025 and it's going to be the first-ever Metro System in Burma with eight lines. Unfortunately my country is going to be a bit of a revolution right now the military coop has took over the entire country but,however the construction has already started with.The demolition of what was once the headquarters building of the Burma Railway or Myanmar Railway.

@stroll-and-roll Год назад

Yeah, I was about to say the civil war is not helpful at all, also with all the sanctions against the "goverment" ... Most TBMs are western made (if i am not wrong), but probably China produces some aswell 😄. A metro in Myanmar is nice nevertheless.

@carlinthomas9482 Год назад

That was very interesting, I'm glad to hear that the western extension of line 5 is ahead of schedule as well. Is there any reason why subway building, especially in North America, is taking longer than it used to?

@TheTroyc1982 Год назад

Using TBM is slower than cut and cover is the main reason it's slower

@u1zha Год назад

America's fussy land ownership laws?

@RMTransit Год назад

North America isn't the only place with delayed projects, and some projects are much faster than others! I talk about some of it in my costs video

@williamerazo3921 Год назад

Money 💰

@nickskier1 Год назад

Theres many reasons. A major component in the last couple years is supply chain. You might be building and need materials that keep getting delayed weeks to months at a time. Another factor, to many reles and considerations, things like much stricter safety rules, extensive environmental rules to minimize impact (many of which of continually gotten a lot stricter over the last decade), an d more considerations the the people around the construction, minimizing noise, traffic disruption etc. Now I'm not saying these are all bad things, but every little thing / rule that's added means it takes more time to build as well.

@foxfireglow109 Год назад

Since the work goes on twenty four hours, is the night shift Rexy’s Midnight Tunnelers?

@Jon_REDACTED 18 дней назад

The US needs to use these things more to better connect America 🇺🇸

@brianalexeu Год назад

Is the terminus built with both of the extensions you mentioned in mind? And how would extending it to both destinations work operationally?

@RMTransit Год назад

Branches, probably a train to the airport every 10 or 15 minutes.

@RTSRafnex2 Год назад

TBMs are basically the alter ego of Swiss people.

@wklis Год назад

Forgot that the beginning of the Eglinton West LRT extension is actually in Mississauga. The further extension to the Pearson Transit Hub will be all in Mississauga.

@RMTransit Год назад

Yes!