Toronto CIBC SQUARE | 241.39m | 50s | Hines | WilkinsonEyre
drum118
Superstar
Nov 29
You can see from the photos that clearance has been made under the new sidewalk for a future tunnel/platform for TTC Union Loop. They have come upon a lot of old shipping docks support material and shows how much of the original waterfront got fill in to meet the demand for trains as well industries needs since 180o's.
More up on site
You can see from the photos that clearance has been made under the new sidewalk for a future tunnel/platform for TTC Union Loop. They have come upon a lot of old shipping docks support material and shows how much of the original waterfront got fill in to meet the demand for trains as well industries needs since 180o's.
More up on site
Fritter
Active Member
I guess there was nothing of archaeological heritage found that will stop construction?
ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
drum118
Superstar
It was design before the loop mess took place and the provision is there if things change.
As much as I opposes the loop since it will never handle the ridership even before the full build out is done, its the best of the 3 current options going to council in Jan. The other 2 options were rule out in the 2008 EA study. The only different with a people mover then and now, it has a passing track for 2 cars today.
Michael62
Active Member
Friday Morning Update: As you can see there is a lot of excavation progress since last week. The construction offices have been moved over to the concrete platform the runs along the east side of Bay St. The scaffolders and formers are finishing their clean up. The tieback machine is still working behind 18 Yonge St. The main focus this week appears to be excavation.
Along the north wall they've installed high intensity lighting that covers most of the site. It distinctly reminds me of this image at night.
screen shot from 2001: A Space Odyssey
On the Tracks: They have been working with the boring machine. I can't get a great shot, but if you zoom in and look to the south and a little west of the white pick-up truck you may be able to see a bored hole which extends about a metre above the surface and is covered with a bright yellow 'garbage can' type lid. Apparently it's legal to work all night, it starts at 11pm and continues until 5am. It's very noisy.
Along the north wall they've installed high intensity lighting that covers most of the site. It distinctly reminds me of this image at night.
On the Tracks: They have been working with the boring machine. I can't get a great shot, but if you zoom in and look to the south and a little west of the white pick-up truck you may be able to see a bored hole which extends about a metre above the surface and is covered with a bright yellow 'garbage can' type lid. Apparently it's legal to work all night, it starts at 11pm and continues until 5am. It's very noisy.
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cc46
Active Member
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Irishmonk
Senior Member
This is definitely one of the most dramatic excavation pits in recent Toronto history. Uncovering a Monolith would be the icing on the cake. (Though the city would probably just shrug and say "Meh, we were hoping to find more blacksmith tools.")
cc46
Active Member
Irishmonk, monolith would be a stretch but what a visual!
I was working for an architect in the early 80s, and was doing contract admin work for a city owned project for senior housing near Queen and River st. The contract was just let and the site was mobilized. Caisson drilling was under way and some how they pulled out a piece of wood from one of the holes and thought it was a musket stock. Well the city was there quickly and put a stop work order on the site pending examination by historical experts. This was in the John Sewell era and the 45 ft height bylaw when historical and near historical buildings were being torn down so it was sensitive.
I recall liasing with experts from the ROM, and brokering meetings on site and trying to facilitate an inspection to determine the authenticity of the find. The contractor wanted to punch me out. I played the architect card administering progress payments and told him to cooperate. The historical sme wanted to investigate the entire site that would take weeks to months. After an excited discussion, we agreed to allow the cassion drilling to continue. The ROM sme wanted to be lowered into every hole on a bossons chair to inspect the sides. After 40+ inspections down 30+/-ft the only findings were glass pieces and bottles from 1900 earliest. Very soon after this the site was deemed not of historical significance and the stop work order was lifted and work resumed.
My relationship with that contractor and project manager was strained after that. I handed off the project to a colleague and returned to school the next fall.
So excavations especially in the south core get my attention, and I live next door.
I was working for an architect in the early 80s, and was doing contract admin work for a city owned project for senior housing near Queen and River st. The contract was just let and the site was mobilized. Caisson drilling was under way and some how they pulled out a piece of wood from one of the holes and thought it was a musket stock. Well the city was there quickly and put a stop work order on the site pending examination by historical experts. This was in the John Sewell era and the 45 ft height bylaw when historical and near historical buildings were being torn down so it was sensitive.
I recall liasing with experts from the ROM, and brokering meetings on site and trying to facilitate an inspection to determine the authenticity of the find. The contractor wanted to punch me out. I played the architect card administering progress payments and told him to cooperate. The historical sme wanted to investigate the entire site that would take weeks to months. After an excited discussion, we agreed to allow the cassion drilling to continue. The ROM sme wanted to be lowered into every hole on a bossons chair to inspect the sides. After 40+ inspections down 30+/-ft the only findings were glass pieces and bottles from 1900 earliest. Very soon after this the site was deemed not of historical significance and the stop work order was lifted and work resumed.
My relationship with that contractor and project manager was strained after that. I handed off the project to a colleague and returned to school the next fall.
So excavations especially in the south core get my attention, and I live next door.
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Michael62
Active Member
Westside Story: digging up the shale base has become problematic. There are 4 diggers and 1 dozer working on this. Two of the diggers have 'jack hammer' attachments, chipping away what they can. The dozer has a 'scraper' attached to the back but it is not very effective in breaking up the shale. It mostly feeds the 2 diggers that are loading up the dump trucks. They have installed emergency stairs in the southwest corner. There are 48 steps from ground level to the bottom of the excavation. Wiki says that the rise of a stair is 18cm (7") so it's easy to figure out that the excavation is about +/-9m (27-30') deep at this point
Eastside Story: It's hard to imagine but the entire excavation is now below the original grade level. The welders are working away on the tiebacks behind 18 Yonge St. More wooden remains, as well as part of a drain have been exposed and are slowly being removed.
Eastside Story: It's hard to imagine but the entire excavation is now below the original grade level. The welders are working away on the tiebacks behind 18 Yonge St. More wooden remains, as well as part of a drain have been exposed and are slowly being removed.
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raptor
Senior Member
Great updates as always! Could you also snap a photo of the train platforms, where the park will be built? And perhaps a closeup of the Union trainshed works? Thanks for your weekly updates!
DarkSideDenizen
Senior Member
What is the history of this site---Before it became just another parking lot?
cc46
Active Member
Nice work Michael62, look forward to your updates. And you have a great vantage point.
As a side note I saw on an internal condo email that the cassions at the rail corridor are underway only at night when the train traffic is lowest or stopped. They appearantly can’t do this work while the trains run. I can hear the drilling through the night even though I am on the east side of 18 Yonge. They say this night work will continue until Feb, and citing that since it’s winter and the windows are closed it’s less noisy, ha!
As a side note I saw on an internal condo email that the cassions at the rail corridor are underway only at night when the train traffic is lowest or stopped. They appearantly can’t do this work while the trains run. I can hear the drilling through the night even though I am on the east side of 18 Yonge. They say this night work will continue until Feb, and citing that since it’s winter and the windows are closed it’s less noisy, ha!
Michael62
Active Member
Tks for your comments. I look north as you can tell and the work on the tracks and train shed have been going on for about 10yrs. As it's an essential service, they are legally allowed to work 24/7. Lately with the boring machines operating, it has gotten a lot noisier so we decided to install a second set of thermal/sound blocking drapes on our north facing windows. It deadens the noise by about 50%. Our real problem though, was the constant light from the high lumen, light towers. They were so bright we could literally read in bed without using any of our own lights.
You'll note all the timbers that have been uncovered in some of the photos, indicating that waaaaaay back when, this area used to be where the docks for Toronto's harbour were. That was back when the boats were small and didn't need deep water. As the boats grew larger and need deeper water, the area between the original docks was filled in, and new docks and piers were built further south. I'm not sure what was on this specific site, but the area where the old docks were was mostly used as warehouses or temporary outdoor storage for cargo that was coming or going by boat and the trains, or the land was used for servicing the trains or boats themselves.
Someone more familiar with digging up historical photos might be able to come up with one or more for this particular site?!
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