Big Becky Breaks Through

It may be four years late and $600-million over budget, but the world's largest rock tunnel boring machine finally sees the light of day.

The world's largest rock tunnel boring machine, Big Becky, finally broke through to the other side in Niagara Falls on Friday. Since 2006, the 4,000-tonne machine had been boring a tunnel as large in diameter as the Chunnel between England and France under the city as part of a hydroelectric infrastructure project that will be completed in 2013. The tunnel will create electricity for as many as 160,000 homes as it directs water from the Niagara River to hydro generating stations. The project has been criticized for its huge price tag and tardiness, but Premier Dalton McGuinty believes the $1.6-billion project was worth it, saying, "This is clean hydroelectric power, it's a project that's going endure for a hundred years, so I think it was well worth the investment."