First tunneling machines reaches future L.A. Metro Wilshire/La Cienega subway station [View all]

The first tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Elsie, broke through to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (L.A. Metro) Wilshire/La Cienega subway station in Beverly Hills.

It is the first of two TBMs that will reach this last station on Section 1 of the L.A. Metro D Line (Purple) Extension project.

Tunneling for the first four-mile section of the subway project is now two-thirds complete. More than 90 percent of the tunnels have been mined safely and L.A. Metro anticipates completing tunnel mining this summer. Excavation for all three subway station boxes beneath Wilshire Boulevard has been completed.

Elsie, the 1,000-ton, 400-foot long TBM started west at the Wilshire/Fairfax station on May 29, 2020, and broke through to the Wilshire/La Cienega station site about one mile away on Feb. 25. L.A. Metro’s first TBM arrived at Wilshire/Fairfax on April 4, 2020. .............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/infrastructure/press-release/21212376/los-angeles-county-metropolitan-transportation-authority-metro-first-tunneling-machines-reaches-future-la-metro-wilshirela-cienega-subway-station