Before the water flows, there’s still plenty of work for Strabag to complete, said project manager Ernst Gschnitzer. He said the company would begin the long process of removing equipment from the tunnel, complete grout work and clear both ends of the tunnel. “The most difficult part of the work is done,” he said.

He agreed with OPG’s Young and said that the company will be looking at some fine tuning of work schedule to finish up quicker. “We’ll try to squeeze out a little more time,” Gschnitzer said.

“It’s good from one perspective that we have been through the most technically challenging part of the job,” said Ernst Gschnitzer. “On the other hand you like to remind yourself, your staff, your workers, to continue to work safely. You want to be able to celebrate that you haven’t had any major accidents when you finally hand over the job. This job has provided work for, more or less, 500 people.”