Toronto Hydro unveils hidden tunnel during construction of transformer station

Hidden Tunnel will help Toronto Hydro supply power to new downtown station

June 25, 2015 – TORONTO

Toronto Hydro has completed a major milestone in the construction of the Clare R. Copeland Transformer Station, located in downtown Toronto. Following a complicated excavation project resembling a mining operation, a hidden tunnel connecting the new station to Hydro One equipment has been recently completed.

Invisible from street level, the hidden tunnel runs underground from Bremner Boulevard and Rees Street to Front and Simcoe Streets. When construction is complete, electricity will flow through large cables in the tunnel to supply the station, while pedestrians walk above the streets, oblivious of the power below their feet.

Copeland Station represents an important piece of Toronto’s infrastructure and a smart investment in the grid. Once finished, it will provide additional power to the downtown core – which is growing at an unprecedented rate – as well as help improve reliability and protection against power outages.

Construction on Copeland Station is ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2016.  This innovative project is only the second underground station to be built in Canada and has been uniquely designed to preserve public green space beside the Roundhouse, a historical building.

QUICK FACTS

• A 176 ton Tunnel Boring Machine travelled east, and then north, 600 metres to Lower Simcoe and Front Streets to connect the station to the electricity grid
• The tunnel is located 100 feet below grade
• The station, which will use modern equipment, will be approximately 50,000 square feet, with three floors spanning 40 feet below grade
• The $195-million project is the first station to be built downtown since the 1950s, the second underground station to be built in Canada and when it’s complete, it will be virtually undetectable to the hundreds of thousands of visitors the area receives each year

View archived webcast of announcement: