NEWS |


Doors open for last two sections of Scheldt Tunnel


Eglinton Crosstown LRT celebrates opening CANADA - Toronto’s newest rapid transit line, Line 5 Eglinton, opened to the public in February. More than 10km of the 19km Eglinton


Crosstown LRT from Mount Dennis Station to Kennedy Station run underground. The project was delivered by Crosslinx


Transit Solutions, comprising Aecon, ACS Infrastructure Canada, EllisDon and AtkinsRéalis, working with Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario. Line 5 Eglinton has a daily capacity of


more than 123,000 passengers. It links to other transport services, including 68 bus routes, three TTC subway stations, the UP Express and two GO lines. In future it will also link to the Eglinton


Above: Work advances further on Scheldt Tunnel


BELGIUM - The doors between the last two sections of Antwerp’s immersed tube Scheldt Tunnel were opened in February. The bulkheads – large walls at the


head of each section – are still in place, but the doors now connect all the tunnel sections for the first time, allowing the project teams to cross them on foot. The Scheldt Tunnel connects


Antwerp’s left bank with the southern port and the Eilandje district on the right bank. On the left bank, it links to the


interchange of the Ring Road and the E34 towards Knokke. On the right bank, it will be above ground at Noordkasteel, where it will connect to the future Oosterweel interchange. The Scheldt Tunnel consists of two


tunnels for car traffic, an emergency tunnel, and a 6m-wide bicycle tunnel. Cyclists will be able to use the Scheldt Tunnel from 2028, and it will open to car traffic in 2030. The entire Oosterweel connection


will be completed in 2033. The opening of the doors between


the last two sections follows the installation and drying of the formwork for the closing joint, the last section of tunnel to be built on site.


In the coming months, client Lantis


and contractor TM Cotu will carry out the concrete work for this closing joint, and the remaining bulkheads will also be removed, taking the


6 | May 2026


structure from eight separate sections to one continuous tunnel. The opening of the doors was


marked by a symbolic meeting between teams from Lantis and TM Cotu, who entered the tunnel from opposite sides. Lantis technical manager Filip


Verhoeven said it was a once-in- a-lifetime moment for the team. “For years, we worked on


separate tunnel sections from both banks of the Scheldt and in the Zeebrugge construction dock,” he said. TM Cotu project director Jan


Bauwens said it was a symbolic moment and a technical achievement. “We’re literally standing here at


the intersection of years of effort and collaboration,” he said. After the tunnel sections were


sunk, a space of approximately 2m remained between Sections 7 and 8, to be filled by the closing joint, the last section of tunnel to be built on site. Now that the formwork has been installed and is dry, workers can enter the space through doors to weave the reinforcement for the floor, walls, and roof. According to the current schedule, the concrete will be poured at the beginning of summer, and the shell of the entire tunnel structure will then be completed.


Crosstown West Extension, Ontario Line subway and the Scarborough Subway Extension.


Bangkok drives finish THAILAND - Two Terratec EPB TBMs recently achieved final breakthrough on Contract G-TN-9B of Bangkok’s 9th Water Supply Improvement Project, completing excavation works for the 9.1km-long water transmission tunnel. The two TBMs were operated by


Italianthai-Nawarat JV, completed drives of 2.25km and 3.12km, respectively. In all, three TBMs were deployed on the


scheme. Terratec says the tunnel alignment


passes beneath heavily trafficked urban corridors and incorporates multiple horizontal curves to avoid flyover bridge foundations. Excavation was carried out at depths


of approximately 27m-34m in silty and clayey sand strata typical of the Bangkok basin. Steel liner installation is underway.


ICE Rennie Medal winner UK - The James Rennie Medal was recently awarded to Ward & Burke Construction engineer Liam Eagle based on his role on the engineering design to link two sewer overflows in Bolton, for United Utilities. He was engineering design lead on the


£13 million AMP7 scheme, which involved construction of a 900m-long, 1.83m i.d. pipejacked tunnel. The award at the Institution of Civil


Engineers (ICE) followed presentations with two other shortlisted finalists. The James Rennie Medal promotes newly qualified professional civil engineers.


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