Danforth Line 2 Scarborough Subway Extension

[EnviroTO]

You wouldn't need to be a mastermind investigative reporter to figure this out. This is the biggest TBD seen in this city. Either the TBM isn't running or there should be about 1000 cubic metres of dirt coming out of this per day or about 100 dump trucks.

 

[turini2]

Oh dear - rescuing a TBM is not cheap or easy!

 

[APTA-2048]

Am I remembering wrong or did someone post about something also happening to one of the Eglinton West TBMs?

 

[cplchanb]

https://www.popularmechanics.com/te...ng-machine-is-stuck-beneath-seattle-16514815/

Hopefully it won't come to this. Toronto is not the hallmark for efficiency when it comes to repairs

 

[crs1026]

To my mind, the brewing scandal here is not so much about a technical problem, but the hostile attitude towards accountability that leaves ML suppressing any information about the project.
If this goes south, the headline won't be "Another Ml project delayed".... it will be "ML covers up".

- Paul

 

[onetoronto]

so...who wants to ask ML (@ScarbSubwayEXT) about the status of the TBM on twitter?

 

[crs1026]

so...who wants to ask ML (@ScarbSubwayEXT) about the status of the TBM on twitter?

Be our guest. I would ask not only ML, but the City Councillors and MPP's along the route. And the prominent local journalists who cover transit.

Personally I got off Twitter last year, because I found the conversations just too toxic. My mental health has greatly improved since I stopped reading it. But I have to admit, for things like this, it's the right medium.

- Paul

 

[NIV]

Politicians and Journalists need to hold ML and Strabag accountable. Where is this massive TBM? Contracts are in place to move hundreds of truckloads of dirt a week, are we paying trucking companies to stand by? TBM supposedly started digging 7 months ago. We need to find out what’s going on and be informed. Costs in the 100’s of millions will be pushed onto taxpayers if we don’t. Let’s learn from the crosstown mess, silence is not an option! Keep Scarborough informed!

 

[nfitz]

A mountain out of a mole hill it would seem.

 

[KhalilHeron]

A mountain out of a mole hill it would seem.

View attachment 493961

I asked for an update on the TBM tracker hopefully they can provide us with live updates soon

 

[alexb]

Meh that picture pretty much means nothing. If it is moving now (anyone see dump trucks hauling dirt away as previous poster noted?), it still had a major issue and was stuck for at least the past 3 months. MX isnt going to say anything because in the modern day no one can admit to liability (or acuse others - see MX Crosstown debacle). We need to be able to have these conversations more openly without the media going batshit crazy because construction is inherently difficult and things will go wrong. We have a world class tunneling contractor on the job and still something happened and this is why tunneling should be avoided unless completely necessary.

 

[nfitz]

Meh that picture pretty much means nothing. If it is moving now (anyone see dump trucks hauling dirt away as previous poster noted?), it still had a major issue and was stuck for at least the past 3 months. MX isnt going to say anything because in the modern day no one can admit to liability (or acuse others - see MX Crosstown debacle). We need to be able to have these conversations more openly without the media going batshit crazy because construction is inherently difficult and things will go wrong. We have a world class tunneling contractor on the job and still something happened and this is why tunneling should be avoided unless completely necessary.

Sounds like the makings of a conspiracy theory to me. If it had indeed stopped for a few weeks, then waiting for replacement part is extremely common in construction. Especially with specialized equipment.

 

[crs1026]

Sounds like the makings of a conspiracy theory to me. If it had indeed stopped for a few weeks, then waiting for replacement part is extremely common in construction. Especially with specialized equipment.

The cause may be benign and there may be a reasonable explanation..... but why the secrecy? Why was the "track the TBM" web site map taken down? And was there an impact on the project tcd or budget?

ML's behaviour is egregious, even if it's a shortlived glitch.

- Paul

 

[nfitz]

Metrolinx is secretive about anything. A more likely answer is the communications person wasn't paying attention, and didn't think anything of it. Or perhaps it was scheduled. There was a mention of work underway for tunneling at the intersection south of the launch area. Perhaps they simply weren't ready to move through yet.

I don't recall such concerns when we saw the TBMs for the Spadina extension pausing for periods of time.

 

[crs1026]

I don't recall such concerns when we saw the TBMs for the Spadina extension pausing for periods of time.

The location of the TYSSE TBM's was documented on the TTC's web site, and that disclosure wasn't retracted when they stopped moving.

There wasn't a concern with TBM performance per se, but there was certainly a concern when tunnelling had to stop for various reasons, leading to the project falling behind schedule.

Quite possibly the recent Scarborough TBM pause was within the planned down time and contingency, and the overall schedule and cost is not affected. If so, the secrecy is unnecessary and amateurish. But also possibly, the down time was not anticipated, and schedule and cost is now affected. There absolutely should be full public disclosure if the project schedule has slipped.

- Paul