Ontario Construction News staff writer
Guideway construction – preparing for track installation along Hurontario Street is underway, an important step for the light rail transit (LRT) line, which will extend from Mississauga to Brampton.
Work will progress from south to north, beginning between Matheson Boulevard to Britannia Road.
“Installing tracks along the roadway isn’t as easy as affixing rails to the ground. Crews first need to dig the roadway up, then dig down as deep as five feet before installing the foundation of the guideway,” said Bernard Sharpe, director of track works for the Hazel McCallion LRT.
“Once the foundation is installed, the guideway will be backfilled and topped with a concrete slab, followed by installation of the tracks,” Bernard added.
Key areas where guideway construction is up and running include along Hurontario Street from Bristol Road to Britannia Road – which is currently being excavated – and at the operations, maintenance and storage facility (OMSF), where there has been over 15 metres of track laid in the yard to date.
At these locations, track work is happening on the roadway between intersections – known as mid-blocks – before progressing to the intersections.
Once completed, the entire project will use:
- 89 kilometres of rail with each segment being 25 metres in length, weighing approximately 5,000 metric tonnes, which is greater than the weight of 735 adult elephants
- 32 kilometres of rail encapsulation which acts as insulation against vagrant electric current
- 13,000 metric tones of rail ballast, which is material like broken stone, gravel or any other granular material that forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties are laid
- 47,000 cubic metres of guideway concrete upon which the tracks are affixed
Metrolinx is detailing the progress of the project on Twitter.