Strabag to Use Robbins TBM for Niagara Falls ProjectOntario Power Generation's third Niagara Falls tunnel project involves boring a CAD985 million, 10.4 km tunnel at a depth of up to 140 metres below the City of Niagara Falls and the surrounding area. Strabag will use a 14.4 m-diameter Robbins TBM, the largest used in Ontario and among the largest in the world. It will be about 2 ½ times the diameter of a typical Toronto metro tunnel and more than 1 ½ times the size of the English Channel tunnels. The TBM is scheduled to start excavating in August 2006. The average advance rate of the machine is expected to be about 12 to 15 metres a day. The tunnel will remove more than 1.6 million cu m of material, mostly Queenston shale. It will be stored on OPG property and could be used by Ontario's clay brick industry. Visit www.robbinstbm.comThe tunnel will enhance the original engineering accomplishment of the Sir Adam Beck complex in transporting water along the Niagara escarpment to increase its energy output. The tunnel also will complement the upgrading of the 16 generating units at the Sir Adam Beck 2 station that was completed in May. Currently approximately 1,800 cubic metres of water per second are available from the Queenston Chippawa power canal and the two existing tunnels under Niagara Falls. An additional 500 cu m of water per second will be made available via the new tunnel. It is expected to be producing new, clean electricity by late 2009. Click ca/13. Visit www.opg.com 41/05.