VANCOUVER – Metro Vancouver’s Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the Tunnelling Association of Canada’s (TAC) Canadian Project of the Year Under $300 Million Award.
The Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel is being built 30 metres below the bottom of Burrard Inlet, east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, between Burnaby and the District of North Vancouver.
The tunnel is intended to replace three existing watermains built between the 1940s and the 1970s that are vulnerable to damage during an earthquake and are nearing the end of their service lives, a Metro Vancouver release said.
“I’m so proud that this major drinking-water infrastructure project, which will help us keep delivering water even after earthquakes, is being celebrated. Metro Vancouver is working on hundreds of projects at any given time. The Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel Project is an excellent example of the kind of award-winning, high-quality, on-budget work that our organization delivers,” Metro Vancouver board of directors chair Mike Hurley said in a statement.
“The Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel is one of the largest tunnels ever built by Metro Vancouver. These kinds of water-supply projects are extremely complex, yet so important to our health and well-being. It’s an honour to see this one recognized for its exceptional quality,” Metro Vancouver water committee chair Malcolm Brodie added.
TAC’s Canadian Project of the Year Award is presented to a team that “has significantly contributed to a project in Canada that has demonstrated the highest level of engineering skill and shown insight and understanding of underground construction,” the release said.
Members of the project team include Traylor Aecon General Partnership, AECOM, WSP/Golder, Mott MacDonald, Malcom Drilling and Herrenknecht AG.
Completed construction works, the release said, include two vertical shafts (one on each side of the inlet), a 6.3-metre-diameter, 1.1-kilometre-long tunnel and three steel watermains. Valve chambers connecting the new mains to the existing drinking water system are nearing completion.
Construction of the project began in 2019 with substantial completion expected by the end of 2024.
The three new watermains will be tied into the drinking water system over the next few winters and are expected to be in service by 2028, the release said.
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