We all need a little support.

Some, a whole lot of assistance to keep the weight of the world above our head.

Along the 19 kilometres of tracks and stations needed for Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit (LRT) route, Cedarvale station, along with Eglinton station, stands out for the way engineering is creating a link with existing transit.

Located at the foot of Allen Road, Cedarvale Station will be an underground station, featuring an interchange with the existing Eglinton West subway station, for a seamless transition to the TTC’s Line 1 Yonge-University.

It’s that connection to the iconic subway that means Metrolinx’s building partners, Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS), are doing the heavy work in important phases – including creating the engineering support system needed to have the two transit routes work in harmony.

Right now, mass excavation continues at Cedarvale.

Back in 2019, CTS received and installed the first massive support girder for the underpinning operation at the site. Just five months later, weight has been successfully transferred to the ‘needle beams’ under the Line 1 subway tunnel, completing the cradle of supports.

And you thought you carried a heavy load during a day’s work.

To see more images and videos from the Crosstown project, just click here.

While we have you, here’s an in-depth animated explainer of how underpinning is being done at Cedarvale and Eglinton stations.