Channel Tunnel builder selected for new George Massey Tunnel construction project, but what will it cost?
Bouygues is best known for playing a key part in building the 50-km-long Channel Tunnel, also known as the Chunnel, between France and the United Kingdom. It is currently involved in the major tunnelling construction projects of the Grand Paris Express Metro Line 15 subway and the Melbourne Metro Tunnel.
The unsuccessful bids entailed two consortiums comprised of engineering giants in South Korea and the Netherlands, as well as Spain’s Acciona Infrastructure and Canada’s Aecon Constructions, which are also currently in the process of building SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway Extension and the new replacement Pattullo Bridge and were recently selected to design and build major components of SkyTrain Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension.
“This is a huge step for the Fraser River Tunnel Project,” said BC’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming in a statement. “With this team in place, we can finalize the project design and ready it for construction, helping us improve travel for people moving along Highway 99 between Richmond and Delta.”
According to the provincial government, the environmental assessment for the project is still in progress, with major construction expected to begin in 2026.
2024 preliminary artistic rendering of the new George Massey Tunnel. (Government of BC)
2023 concept: Artistic rendering of the new eight-lane immersed tunnel replacement for the George Massey Tunnel, with the multi-use pathway for pedestrians and cyclists located next to the northbound tunnel. (Government of BC)
As first announced in mid-2021, the provincial government has selected a new crossing option of a new immersed tunnel with eight vehicle lanes — four vehicle lanes in each direction, including one dedicated bus lane in each direction — and a separate tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists. At the time, it was stated by the provincial government that the project’s cost is pegged at $4.15 billion, which includes the cost of Highway 99 corridor works such as new bus-on-shoulder lanes and a new interchange at Steveston Highway.
The immersed tunnel construction method involves dropping pre-fabricated concrete tunnel segments into an excavated underwater trench on the bed of the Fraser River. After the tunnel segments are dropped and connected, the tunnel is buried with a layer of backfill and rock to protect the structure.
Today’s announcement did not reaffirm the $4.15 billion cost estimate publicly announced in 2021. It should be noted that nearly every major capital project budgeted by the provincial government before the steep global inflationary trend, which began in March 2022, has seen significant cost increases — not just transportation infrastructure projects but also new hospital projects.
In June 2024, Daily Hive Urbanized reported that the new George Massey Tunnel project is BC Premier David Eby’s “top transportation infrastructure priority” for funding from the federal government.
“Building on the extensive design work already completed by the Province, the project now enters the development phase, which allows a transparent and collaborative approach to tunnel design, and agreement on project costs and risks between the Province and Cross Fraser Partnership. The final design and cost submission will culminate in a design-build agreement,” reads today’s release.
The new Steveston Highway interchange is expected to reach full completion in 2025.
Site preparation work will begin later in Summer 2024 on the preloading of soil along the Highway 99 corridor between Westminster Highway and Steveston Highway — a 4.5-km-long stretch of the highway — for the construction of an additional southbound vehicle lane. This will create a consistent, eight-lane configuration from Westminster Highway in Richmond to Ladner Trunk Road in Delta, including the completion of the new eight-lane tunnel by 2030.
Upon completion, the existing 1959-built, four-lane George Massey Tunnel will be decommissioned and removed, which is part of Cross Fraser Partnership’s contract.
The new tunnel and various Highway 99 corridor improvements will remove the existing counterflow system and enable vehicles to reach average speeds of up to 80 km/hr during busy periods — up from the current average of 30 km/hr.
An updated and detailed artistic rendering of the potential design of the new crossing shows the separate active transportation tunnel — wedged between the two vehicle tunnels in each direction — will transition into a ramped overpass bridge at the south end of the crossing.
2024 preliminary artistic rendering of the new George Massey Tunnel. (Government of BC)
Design of the new Steveston Highway interchange on Highway 99. (Government of BC)
Prior to the BC NDP provincial government’s decision to proceed with a new immersed tunnel, it cancelled an advanced project to build a new 10-lane bridge with extensive purpose-built bus-only lanes — not to be confused with the current design of bus-on-shoulder lanes — and other bus rapid transit-like design components, and major new interchanges.
The original bridge project by the last BC Liberals provincial government carried a $3.5 billion project, with the provincial government’s bidding process in 2017 attracting a bid as low as $2.6 billion — $900 million lower than the estimate. Construction was expected to begin in late 2017, but it was cancelled by the BC NDP soon after the election that year. The new bridge and Highway 99 corridor projects were scheduled to reach full completion in 2022.
If all goes as planned, the next six years through 2030 will be a banner period for major transportation infrastructure project completions in the Lower Mainland led by the provincial government.
The new replacement Pattullo Bridge will open in Fall 2025, following delays from its original scheduled opening date of late 2023, while the Millennium Line SkyTrain’s Broadway Extension will open in Fall 2027, following delays from its original scheduled opening date of late 2025.
Major construction work on the Expo Line SkyTrain’s Surrey-Langley extension is expected to begin late in 2024 for an opening by late 2028. As well, work on the estimated $2.3-billion Highway 1 widening project between Langley and Abbotsford is expected to reach completion by 2029.
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