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Airport Tunnel Under an Operating Runway
irport Tunnel Under an Operating Runway Morrison Hershfield
This $60 million project involved the design and construction administration of a 600m long, four-lane tunnel under operating runway 15L-33R at Toronto’s very busy Lester B. Pearson International Airport.  Designed to withstand future aircraft weighing in excess of 1.5 million pounds, the tunnel connects new cargo and emergency facilities to the terminals and perimeter roads.  The tunnel is a twin box structure measuring approximately 30m x 8m in diameter. 

Morrison Hershfield provided solid strength and experience in structural design, roadway design and construction administration.  The work included:

  • Preliminary design of roadways, ramps, tunnel systems, and utilities
  • Staging and selection of the appropriate tunnel type
  • Final detail design of tunnel structure, portals and access ramps, pavement layout and storm sewers, relocation of utilities, electrical and mechanical systems
  • Full resident engineering services, including tender call, construction supervision, survey control, quality control, commissioning and documentation

Morrison Hershfield provided the most cost effective and least disruptive solution to the client, while meeting restrictive time constraints.  Twenty-four hour work was required to minimize the closure of runways and taxiways. 

The fast track design and construction was on budget and on time to meet the critical target for the redevelopment of the airport to meet future traffic growth.

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