From the Niagara Falls Review:
At $1.6 billion, it’s one of the biggest construction projects ever in Niagara. And in just more than a year, it should be done.
The Niagara Tunnel Project will help carry more water from the upper Niagara River to the Sir Adam Beck generating station, providing enough hydroelectricity to power 160,000 homes each year.
It was originally supposed to be completed at the end of 2009, but that date along with the initial $1-billion cost figure ($600 million for the tunnel itself), went out the window when Big Becky, the world’s largest hard rock tunnel boring machine, ran into tougher-than expected rock conditions along the 10-kilometre route.
The tunnel boring wrapped up in May 2011 and now the work being done is to line the 14.4-metre-diameter walls with concrete.