March 21, 2013 – Ontario is now harnessing more electricity from Niagara Falls through the completed 10-km+ Niagara Tunnel Project, which is channelling additional water from the Niagara River to the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station at a rate of 500 m³/s.

The Ontario government says this was the largest hydroelectric project to come into service in the province in the past 50 years, employing 580 people during the peak of construction.

CHECK OUT Big Becky’s tunnel-boring breakthrough VIDEO below (May 13, 2011).

ALSO, be sure to visit the Niagara Tunnel Project website; dedicated “to all the men and women working at the Niagara Tunnel Project”, it contains a ton of excellent first-hand photos and information.

The Niagara Tunnel is as high as a four-storey building, and is lined with about 500,000 m³ of concrete.

“Congratulations to our contractor Strabag and the hundreds of men and women who worked with extremely difficult rock conditions to safely complete this engineering marvel,” said Tom Mitchell, president and CEO of Ontario Power Generation (OPG). “This was a large, complex project that will serve Ontario for more than 100 years.”

PHOTOS: Big Becky’s tunnel-boring breakthrough on May 13, 2011. Courtesy OPG.