The city has finished pouring the last section of the tunnel that will run under the new airport runway.
The last piece of the 620 metre long structure was completed on October 31 and will be able to accommodate six lanes of traffic.
The new tunnel runs between Barlow Trail and 36 St. N.E. and the walls and roof of the tunnel were poured in 50 sections.
80 trucks delivered 850 cubic metres of concrete in a 12-hour period for each of the 50 sections.
Since the first section was completed earlier this year, more than 42,000 cubic metres of concrete has been poured on the tunnel structure.
“This is another major milestone as we move toward the completion of the Airport Trail tunnel,” said Gordon Stewart, Director of Transportation Infrastructure. “The project managers and work crews have done an outstanding job to meet the tight deadlines.”
On Wednesday, the city turned over the second section, which is under the taxiways that run from the airport to the terminal area, to the Calgary Airport Authority so crews can continue construction.
Crews are now moving on to waterproofing and backfilling the concrete sides of the tunnel walls.
Electrical and mechanical work and the installation of lighting and road construction inside the tunnel still needs to be completed.
The city says that most of the work on the roadways will take place in 2013 and that it expects to open Airport Trail between Barlow Trail and 36 Street N.E. in May 2014.
The project’s budget is $294.8 million.
