Tunnel boring under Fraser River for Metro Vancouver water supply project reaches completion The SkyTrain Millennium Line Broadway Extension may have captured most of the local tunnel-boring spotlight in recent years, but the Annacis Water Supply Tunnel has been quietly making impressive progress of its own.

And now, the tunnel boring for Metro Vancouver Regional District’s new water supply tunnel has now been completed, marking a major milestone in the project to strengthen and expand the region’s drinking water infrastructure.

The tunnel is engineered to withstand an exceptionally powerful one-in-10,000-year earthquake — equivalent to a magnitude 9.0 seismic event — ensuring the continued delivery of safe, reliable water even in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster.

You might also like:
- Big years-long dig: Work on $495 million Stanley Park water tunnel begins
- Metro Vancouver outlines options for new reservoir dams to increase water supply
- Metro Vancouver sewage treatment plant project budget cut by nearly $4 billion
- Broadway Subway stations begin to take shape for 2027 opening
- This is how the new George Massey Tunnel will be built

This is a new 2.3-km-long tunnel under the Fraser River between New Westminster and Surrey, crossing just north of Annacis Island.

The tunnel boring machine named Anna, short for Annacis, began her journey from a vertical entry shaft on the south side of the river at Grace Road in Surrey and broke through a vertical exit shaft on the north side at 11th Street in New Westminster. The tunnel has a depth of 50 metres below the river.






“Metro Vancouver is always working to ensure the drinking water system is in good condition — from routine repairs and maintenance to constructing new mains and tunnels to accommodate growth, replace aging infrastructure, and prepare for a major earthquake,” said Mike Hurley, chair of the board of directors for the regional district and the mayor of Burnaby, in a statement.

“These projects happen out of sight but are critical to ensuring that everyone in the region continues to receive the high-quality water they expect when turning on their taps.”

With tunnel boring now complete, the regional district’s contractor will begin installing a 2.6-metre-diameter steel water main pipe inside the new tunnel formed by pre-fabricated concrete panels. Valve chambers will also be be built near each shaft to connect the water main to the existing regional water supply network.

Construction on the Annacis Water Supply Tunnel project will reach completion in 2028. Work first began in 2022, with the project’s budget pegged at $450 million.





In September 2025, the regional district saw its other major water supply project, the $469-million new Second Narrows Water Supply Tunnel, reach substantial completion. It also involved tunnel boring, built 30 metres below Burrard Inlet just east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge between Burnaby and North Vancouver District. This particular project replaced three aging water mains.

Construction began in late 2024 on the new Stanley Park Water Supply Tunnel, which also serves to replace an aging water main. But it is being built using more conventional digging methods, as opposed to tunnel boring. This $495-million project is scheduled to reach completion in 2029.

Prior to these various projects, the regional district in 2017 completed the Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel — built under the Fraser River near the Port Mann Bridge — using the tunnel boring methodology.

Tunnel boring for the provincial government’s Broadway subway project for the Millennium Line extension reached completion in April 2024. This SkyTrain extension is slated to open by Fall 2027.




You might also like:
- Big years-long dig: Work on $495 million Stanley Park water tunnel begins
- Metro Vancouver outlines options for new reservoir dams to increase water supply
- Metro Vancouver sewage treatment plant project budget cut by nearly $4 billion
- Broadway Subway stations begin to take shape for 2027 opening
- This is how the new George Massey Tunnel will be built
https://dailyhive.com/vancouve....r/annacis-water-supp