Metro has selected the winners of its art and naming contest for its third and final set of tunnel boring machines that will dig twin Purple Line Extension subway tunnels between Westwood and Century City starting in early 2021.  

The names “Aura” and “Iris” were chosen from entries submitted by U.S. veterans and Veterans Affairs (VA) employees as well as UCLA students, alumni and employees.   

Metro has now received the cutterhead and shield for its TBMs, which are now staged at Metro’s Veterans Affairs construction yard in Westwood. TBMs are being assembled at the site and will then dig eastward to Century City. Metro’s Section 3 contractors, Tutor Perini O&G Joint Venture is building project Section 2 and the Section 3 stations with Frontier-Kemper/Tutor Perini Joint Venture performing the Section 3 tunnel construction.  

The TBMs weigh approximately 1,300 t, are 140 m (460 feet) long and are 7.16 m (23.49 feet) in diameter. They will advance about 18.29 m (60 feet) per day once digging begins. The depths of tunnels will vary throughout the underground alignment, ranging from 15.24 to 36.58 m (50 to 120 feet). The TBMs will tunnel five days per week, 20 hours per day and take approximately two years to complete their work.  

The third section of the Purple Line Extension Project spans 4.12 km (2.56 miles) and includes two new stations at Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA in Westwood. This final section of the project is expected to open in 2027.  

Overall, the Purple Line Extension Project consists of three construction phases. When complete, the project will extend Purple Line service nine miles farther west and include seven new stations: Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, Wilshire/La Cienega, Wilshire/Rodeo, Century City/Constellation, Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital. When the entire project is completed in 2027, the subway extension is expected to serve 59,000 passengers daily – including 17,000 new passengers. The project is funded by federal grants and Measure R and Measure M, the 2008 and 2016 sales tax measures, respectively approved by Los Angeles County voters for transportation improvements.  

Click here and us/41 for the tunnelbuilder archive.  For more information on the Purple Line Extension Project visit www.metro.net/purplelineext  and https://thesource.metro.net. 45/20.