In January two TBMs Ruth and Harriet completed the 1.77 km (1.1 miles) tunnels between Century City and Wilshire/Rodeo station under downtown Beverly Hills  for Section 2 of the Purple (D Line) Extension project in Los Angeles: the first TBM, Harriet, reached Wilshire/Rodeo on 11/01/2022 and the second TBM, Ruth, made it to the station box on 28/01/2022.  

 The two TBMs at Wilshire/Rodeo Station. That’s Ruth at left, Harriet at right in both pics 

The two TBMs began digging at Century City on the 30/04/2020 and travelled to the East.  In early February, the TBMs will start digging the tunnels between Wilshire/Rodeo and Wilshire/La Cienega stations.  The tunnels on the 6.27 km (3.9-mile) Section 1 of the project - between Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/La Cienega - were completed in 2021.  

On the 24/05/2021 a ground-breaking ceremony was held in front of the VA Hospital in Westwood for the 4 km (2.5 miles) Section 3 of the Purple (D Line) Extension. Section 3 will run between Century City and Westwood with new stations at Westwood and UCLA to and another at Westwood/VA Hospital to serve the hospital campus just west of the I-405 freeway. The contractor is Tutor-Perini/O&G and construction is also underway. 

The Purple (D Line) Extension project is extending Metro’s D Line subway from its current terminus at Wilshire/Western for 14.48 km (9 miles) to the Westwood VA Hospital in Westwood. The project is funded mostly by Measure R, Measure M and federal grants. Section 1 is forecast to open in 2024, Section 2 in 2025 and Section 3 in 2027. Travel time between Westwood and downtown L.A. is expected to take about 25 minutes. 

Click here and us/41 for the tunnelbuilder archive.  For more information on the Purple Line Extension Project also visit https://www.metro.net/projects/westside/ and https://thesource.metro.net.  05/22.