$1.6 billion

2012 Rank: 17

2011 Rank: 15

Sector: Hydroelectric

Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario

Owner: Ontario Power Generation (OPG)

Key Players:

Engineer: Hatch Mott MacDonald, in association with Hatch (owner’s representative); ILF Consulting Engineers (tunnel designer); Morrison Hershfield (design—above-ground work)

Contractor: Dufferin Construction (main subcontractor); Strabag AG (design-build)

Supplier: The Robbins Company (TBM); Rowa Tunnelling Logistics (TBM backup equipment)

Other: Golder Associates

Funding: Public

Financing: In September 2005, OPG reached an agreement with the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation (OEFC) to provide debt financing for the project. The funding (up to $1 billion over the duration of the project) will be in the form of 118 ten-year notes. Advances under this facility commenced in October 2006, and amounted to $240 million in September 2007. Interest will be fixed for each note issued at the time of advance at a rate equal to the prevailing benchmark Government of Canada ten-year bond, plus a credit spread determined by the OEFC based on a survey of market rates. In December 2009, OPG issued $490 million against this facility, which included new borrowing of $150 million under the facility in 2009.

Description:

Tunnel boring was completed in spring of 2011 on the 12.7-metre, 10.2 km tunnel and preparations are underway for the dismantling and removal of the tunnel boring machine. Workers are currently constructing the concrete outlet structure that includes the emergency closure gate and provides for the transition of water from the tunnel into the canals that feed water into the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric stations. Completion is expected in 2013.