Three stations and 5.2 kilometre of tunnel extend Montreal Metro

Montreal’s subway system now goes out to Laval, the suburb north of the city. Three new stations on the Metro were opened at the end of April. The extension is to the end of the orange line, and adds the Cartier, Montmorency and De La Concorde stations.<br>
SNC-Lavalin (Charles Chebl, P.Eng.) led the SGTM consortium in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction management of the massive project, which took five years and cost $803 million. <br>
It involved digging a 5.2 kilometre tunnel in difficult conditions under a river, using explosive and roadheader machine methods. Besides the new metro stations, there are eight auxiliary structures, bus stations and parking lots and an underground garage and workshop. <br>
Other firms in the SGTM consortium were Tecsult, and MBGF (Municonsult, Bisson Fortin, Giasson Farregut, Martin Marcotte).<br>
Quebec Premier Jean Charest was one of the dignitaries at the official opening, which was marred by union protests at Montmorency Station and the death of an employee from a heart attack on the scene.<br>
Each train on the system requires 4.5 MW of power, run on two dedicated 25 kV lanes. There are 19 pumps (10,000 GPM) for dewatering the tunnels, and a ventilation system of 1,200,000 cfm capacity.<br>
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