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A tunnel boring machine (TBM) drilling the twin tunnels for Los Angeles' Crenshaw/LAX Line is living up to its name. Christened 'Harriet' after the trailblazing abolitionist and humanitarian Harriet Tubman, the massive machine has done some trailblazing of its own, completing excavation for the first tunnel of the line's northern underground portion at Leimart Park Station. The TBM will now be dismantled, transported back to its originating point at Expo/Crenshaw, lowered into the ground once again, reassembled, and begin drilling the remaining tunnel along the same route.
Of the eight stations planned, three will be underground: Expo/Crenshaw, Martin Luther King Jr., and Leimert Park. The route then travels above ground and terminates at Aviation/Century. Preparation work and environmental studies will be conducted for a ninth station at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street, which would also provide service to the existing Green Line, multiple bus routes, and the proposed automated people mover that would transport travellers between LAX airport terminals.
Metro photographer Steve Hymon was on the scene to capture the historic moment of breakthrough, recording the crumbling wall as the TBM enters the pit that will hold Leimart Park Station. Harriet was lowered in February at the future Crenshaw/Expo Station and began her journey southwards in April. It reached Martin Luther King Jr. Station in August. Harriet has excavated 141,000 cubic yards of soil over her one-mile-long voyage.
The 8.5-mile-long Crenshaw/LAX Line is about halfway complete, and when construction concludes in 2019, it will serve the cities of Los Angeles, Inglewood, and El Segundo. The transit project is one of a dozen funded by Measure R, a half-cent sales tax that Los Angeles County voters approved in 2008. This needed investment in transit infrastructure is expected to help relieve the notorious congestion on Los Angeles roadways and give residents a more environmentally friendly and economical mode of transportation.
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