Moving the earth for Toronto’s future transit line

Crews working on the Crosstown are moving 'heaven and earth' – lots of earth – to build the future Avenue Station, one of the 15 underground stations on the new Eglinton line.

“The station entrances at Avenue are the deepest on the line, and we will be removing approximately 28,463 cubic metres of earth during excavation for both entrances,” said Saleh Elnabolsy, project manager for Avenue Station. “Each entrance will be excavated in five levels, and we’ll install steel supports as each level is excavated.”

Above: Example of an excavated site. Secondary entrance of future Laird Station pictured.

Excavation at both the main and secondary entrances has begun. Following the vertical excavation, crews will continue to move earth, tunnelling out the space needed for the platforms. But, that is a story for another time, so stay tuned.

Did you know? The volume of earth that will be removed for the two Avenue Station entrances is enough to fill 11 Olympic-size swimming pools.