Ontario Construction News staff writer
The European-based ACCIONA-Ghella consortium has been selected as the preferred proponent for a $2.83 billion subway project in Vancouver.
The 5.7 km Broadway Subway project will extend the city’s Millenium Line and become a key link in the city’s transportation system
ACCONIA says the underground part of the network will have an excavation diameter of six metres (5.2 metres internal diameter) as well as six new stations.
Construction of the subway will involve works starting in 2020, with the new extension opening in 2025. This will be the fifth extension of the metro system that was inaugurated in 1986. Once in service, the journey time on the Millennium Line will take eleven minutes, saving passengers an average of 30 minutes a day while alleviating traffic congestion in the city.
“This new contract will mark ACCIONA’s 6th active infrastructure project in BC. We are proud to share the trust of the Province of BC and our team is looking forward to develop further connections with our local partners and communities as ACCIONA will be celebrating its 20 anniversary in Canada in 2021,” Carlos Planelles, director for ACCIONA North America, said in a statement.
The project, using a design-build-finance approach, is funded and delivered by the Government of British Columbia, with contributions from the Government of Canada and the city of Vancouver.
The consortium selected by the provincial government comprises ACCIONA (60%) and the Italian firm Ghella (40%), which has important experience in underground works. Both global companies have previously collaborated to construct iconic international transport infrastructure such as Scandinavia’s longest railway tunnels for the Norwegian railway authorities (the Follo Line); the Legacy Way tunnels in Brisbane (Australia); or the Bologna Node on the Milan-Naples high-speed rail section in Italy.
ACCIONA says it has extensive experience on its own of constructing metro lines in Spain, Ecuador, Brazil and Dubai as well as railway tunnel, the company says in a statement.