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Hopefully this gets buried and not an eyesore down there by the Roadhouse, it also makes you wonder if one day they will do away with the Windsor station which is located just north of the under construction 300 Front street condo project.

About the Bremner Station Project

Bremner Station is a proposed transformer station that will provide service to an important part of Toronto’s downtown core. The station will help Toronto Hydro replace obsolete equipment at Windsor Station and will increase reliability and supply in Toronto's ever-growing City centre. The Bremner Station project forms part of Toronto Hydro’s PowerUp capital program – a key investment to improving future reliability of electricity supply.

The station will be built adjacent to Toronto’s landmark Roundhouse building at Bremner Boulevard and Rees Street. The project, coordinated with Hydro One and the Ontario Power Authority, is designed to increase future reliability of Toronto’s electricity supply.


Bremnersketch_web1.jpg


Bremner Station Project
http://www.torontohydro.ca/sites/electricsystem/powerup/Pages/BremnerStationProject.aspx

Bremner Station FAQs
http://www.torontohydro.ca/sites/electricsystem/powerup/Pages/BremnerStationFAQs.aspx
 
It seems a bit odd to me to build a subsudiary/satelite station on Bremner when they COULD expand Windsor by buying some of the vacant land just adjacent to it. If they actually wanted to close Windsor I think they would have selected another site because Bremner is tiny and offers little or no expansion space and is clearly much smaller than Windsor. Question: Will their rebuild of Windsor in 2013+ result in it being covered by a building (similar to the equivalent Hydro station on The Esplanade and Lower Sherbourne (which is now linked to Windsor by a very deep tunnel)?
 
It seems a bit odd to me to build a subsudiary/satelite station on Bremner when they COULD expand Windsor by buying some of the vacant land just adjacent to it.

Expanding Windsor would require the purchase of land, whereas they currently hold a lien on the land under the Machine Shop.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
There's a drop in public information session next week at the Convention Centre:

PUBLIC INFORMATION SESSION DETAILS
DATE: Wednesday, April 27, 2011
TIME: Drop In anytime between 4:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
PLACE: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, Room 203D
255 Front Street West, Toronto, ON
 
Expanding Windsor would require the purchase of land, whereas they currently hold a lien on the land under the Machine Shop. Dan Toronto, Ont.

True but building a tunnel from Windsor to Bremner is hardly going to be cheap. However, if it allows them to enclose the Windsor tranhsformers as part of a rebuild THAT would be a huge plus.
 
Oh my god, expand it..i was thinking more of encasing it in the bottom of the pit of a future 50 storey tower.:eek::D

Expansion does not have to be on the surface, there are many examples of transformer stations hidden below or inside other buildings - though I am not sure I would actually want to live on top of one!
 
People wouldn't necessarily have to live on top of one of the station if it were an office building, much like 7 WTC in NYC which was rebuilt on top of a ConEd power substation. I'd always imagined seeing an office tower on that property! :) Once the Bremner station is complete and the Windsor station replaced, I wonder what the city will do with the property.
 
Big difference between "replaced" and "upgrade". I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see Toronto Hydro partnering with a developer to develop the site further from what it is.
 
Lights On Toronto! We’re getting a new subterranean transformer station.

Text by Dumitru Onceanu

The current Windsor transformer station at the corner of Wellington and John Streets is rapidly becoming obsolete and in need of replacement. Toronto’s ever growing forest of condos and office towers in the city core is putting stress on the city’s electrical capacity. The purpose of this fix-it project is two-fold.

First, the project will allow Toronto Hydro to install brand new, state of the art transformers. According to Toronto Hydro representatives at the public information session, these massive transformers (approximately 7(L) x 5(W) x 6(H) metres in size) will be filled not with oil as most conventional transformers are. These will be filled with a special, non-flammable inert gas, significantly reducing the chance of a fire should a transformer fail during use.

Second, the project will allow Toronto Hydro to take the Windsor station completely offline and refurbish its infrastructure, bringing it up to modern standards. While this information session was exclusively focused on the new Bremner Station project, Hydro confirms it has no plans to completely decommission or sell off the existing Windsor Station as the intention is to use both stations to increase Toronto’s electrical capacity into the future. No concrete plans have been drawn up for the Windsor site as the Bremner project has a planned construction timeline extending to 2013.

Some of the noteworthy details about the Bremner Project.

The new station will be almost entirely build underground. In the following image, the new station will approximately occupy the space highlighted in red.

BremnerSubAerialScreenshotMarkedup.jpg

image from Google Maps


The subterranean facility will be approximately 4 storeys deep, about 13 metres. As the water table in this area is very close to ground level, the facility will be built within a concrete ‘bathtub‘, ensuring that it is as water tight as possible.

Before shovels can hit the ground, the issue of the existing Machine Shop heritage building has to be dealt with. The building in the above image is highlighted in blue. Talks are ongoing between Toronto Hydro and Heritage Toronto, however the existing building will be carefully dismantled and stored while the construction proceeds. Once construction is complete, the intention is to restore the heritage building to its original location, and will be rebuilt right onto the roof of the power station.

Connecting the new station to the existing electrical grid will take some tunneling and as representatives described it, we are looking at another tunnel boring job in the city! The EA has identified the corridor along Bremner (between Rees and Lower Simcoe), as well as Lower Simcoe (from Bremner to Front) and the most appropriate location to tunnel the connection. This can be seen highlighted in green in the above image, or in the dotted line in the image below.

BremnerSubEA.jpg

image from EA Study notice: http://www.torontohydro.ca/sites/electricsystem/powerup/Documents/BREMNER EA_April 12_Final.pdf


The tunnel will be bored at a depth of approximately 30 metres, allowing it to be drilled through bedrock. The tunnel will not be very wide, and was anecdotally described to be about ‘1/10th’ the size of a typical subway tunnel. The tunnel will be about 600 m long and will connect to an existing East-West tunnel that connects the Windsor station with another station on the East end of downtown. Because of its depth, not much disruption is expected at street level along its length. The access shaft to begin the tunnel will be located on the site of the excavated station.

Lastly, we have a look at what the above ground component of the station will look like. Because the corner of Bremner and Rees is about 4 metres higher than the corner of Rees and Lakeshore, the station roof will be at ground level at the north end of the station. The design of the walls at the south end, as well as along Rees Street still have to be finalized. Four options were presented. Which do you like?

Option 1:

BremnerSubOption1south.jpg

photographed display board


Option 2:

BremnerSubOption2south.jpg

photographed display board


Option 3:

BremnerSubOption3south.jpg

photographed display board


Option 4:

BremnerSubOption4.jpg

photographed display board


Options 1-3 look mostly similar to each other, with the exception of the placement of louvres which will provide ventilation for the heat generated by the transformers deep below, while the fourth option looks vastly different.


The station is expected to have a green roof, and possibly be open public space as the north end will effectively be at ground level allowing one to walk right onto the roof.


A few final shots of the site, from Google Maps:

Looking South-East at the site. Highlighted in red is approximately what the shape of the west wall will look like. At street level to the north, eventually becoming approximately 4 meters tall at the south end (bellow)

BremnerSubReesScreenshot2Markedup.jpg

looking South-East from Bremner and Rees - Google Streetview

BremnerSubLakeShorescreenshot2Markedup.jpg

looking North-East from Bremner and Lakeshore - Google Streetview

BremnerSubGardinerScreenshot2Markedup.jpg

Looking north at the site, from the Gardiner - Google Streetview

BremnerSubGardinerScreenshot2.jpg

Looking north at the site, from the Gardiner - Google Streetview


Construction is planned to begin this summer starting with the dismantling of the heritage Machine Shop building, and then shovels will hit the ground eventually producing the 4 storey deep ‘bathtub’ facility.
 
Lights On Toronto! We’re getting a new subterranean transformer station.

Text by Dumitru Onceanu

The current Windsor transformer station at the corner of Wellington and John Streets is rapidly becoming obsolete and in need of replacement. Toronto’s ever growing forest of condos and office towers in the city core is putting stress on the city’s electrical capacity. The purpose of this fix-it project is two-fold.

First, the project will allow Toronto Hydro to install brand new, state of the art transformers. According to Toronto Hydro representatives at the public information session, these massive transformers (approximately 7(L) x 5(W) x 6(H) metres in size) will be filled not with oil as most conventional transformers are. These will be filled with a special, non-flammable inert gas, significantly reducing the chance of a fire should a transformer fail during use.

Second, the project will allow Toronto Hydro to take the Windsor station completely offline and refurbish its infrastructure, bringing it up to modern standards. While this information session was exclusively focused on the new Bremner Station project, Hydro confirms it has no plans to completely decommission or sell off the existing Windsor Station as the intention is to use both stations to increase Toronto’s electrical capacity into the future. No concrete plans have been drawn up for the Windsor site as the Bremner project has a planned construction timeline extending to 2013.

Some of the noteworthy details about the Bremner Project.

The new station will be almost entirely build underground. In the following image, the new station will approximately occupy the space highlighted in red.

BremnerSubAerialScreenshotMarkedup.jpg

image from Google Maps


The subterranean facility will be approximately 4 storeys deep, about 13 metres. As the water table in this area is very close to ground level, the facility will be built within a concrete ‘bathtub‘, ensuring that it is as water tight as possible.

Before shovels can hit the ground, the issue of the existing Machine Shop heritage building has to be dealt with. The building in the above image is highlighted in blue. Talks are ongoing between Toronto Hydro and Heritage Toronto, however the existing building will be carefully dismantled and stored while the construction proceeds. Once construction is complete, the intention is to restore the heritage building to its original location, and will be rebuilt right onto the roof of the power station.

Connecting the new station to the existing electrical grid will take some tunneling and as representatives described it, we are looking at another tunnel boring job in the city! The EA has identified the corridor along Bremner (between Rees and Lower Simcoe), as well as Lower Simcoe (from Bremner to Front) and the most appropriate location to tunnel the connection. This can be seen highlighted in green in the above image, or in the dotted line in the image below.

BremnerSubEA.jpg

image from EA Study notice: http://www.torontohydro.ca/sites/electricsystem/powerup/Documents/BREMNER EA_April 12_Final.pdf


The tunnel will be bored at a depth of approximately 30 metres, allowing it to be drilled through bedrock. The tunnel will not be very wide, and was anecdotally described to be about ‘1/10th’ the size of a typical subway tunnel. The tunnel will be about 600 m long and will connect to an existing East-West tunnel that connects the Windsor station with another station on the East end of downtown. Because of its depth, not much disruption is expected at street level along its length. The access shaft to begin the tunnel will be located on the site of the excavated station.

Lastly, we have a look at what the above ground component of the station will look like. Because the corner of Bremner and Rees is about 4 metres higher than the corner of Rees and Lakeshore, the station roof will be at ground level at the north end of the station. The design of the walls at the south end, as well as along Rees Street still have to be finalized. Four options were presented. Which do you like?

Option 1:

BremnerSubOption1south.jpg

photographed display board


Option 2:

BremnerSubOption2south.jpg

photographed display board


Option 3:

BremnerSubOption3south.jpg

photographed display board


Option 4:

BremnerSubOption4.jpg

photographed display board


Options 1-3 look mostly similar to each other, with the exception of the placement of louvres which will provide ventilation for the heat generated by the transformers deep below, while the fourth option looks vastly different.


The station is expected to have a green roof, and possibly be open public space as the north end will effectively be at ground level allowing one to walk right onto the roof.


A few final shots of the site, from Google Maps:

Looking South-East at the site. Highlighted in red is approximately what the shape of the west wall will look like. At street level to the north, eventually becoming approximately 4 meters tall at the south end (bellow)

BremnerSubReesScreenshot2Markedup.jpg

looking South-East from Bremner and Rees - Google Streetview

BremnerSubLakeShorescreenshot2Markedup.jpg

looking North-East from Bremner and Lakeshore - Google Streetview

BremnerSubGardinerScreenshot2Markedup.jpg

Looking north at the site, from the Gardiner - Google Streetview

BremnerSubGardinerScreenshot2.jpg

Looking north at the site, from the Gardiner - Google Streetview


Construction is planned to begin this summer starting with the dismantling of the heritage Machine Shop building, and then shovels will hit the ground eventually producing the 4 storey deep ‘bathtub’ facility.
 

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