Toronto CIBC SQUARE | 241.39m | 50s | Hines | WilkinsonEyre

[Automation Gallery]

There's no streetcar platform being built. There's updated drawings on the City site from Sept 29th.

Hmm?, i thought it was always in the plan to have the streetcar go through there

 

[Michael62]

It takes 5 scoops and about 3 minutes to fill up one dump truck, the digger tamps the fill in each dumper and then skims the rails on both sides of the dumper. In today's shot you can count up to nine or so dump trucks which will be filled and gone in the next 30 minutes give or take. They've been doing this all day everyday all week which make me appreciate the volume of fill that's being removed. The hole is getting bigger but not deeper.

Along Bay Street toward the Bay Team Way, more scaffolding has be constructed, platforms and rebar are being installed as it was in the weeks previous. Along Bay St closer to Lake Shore Blvd. you may notice that the scaffolding is coming down from underneath the concrete platform that was constructed and poured last week. Everything on the ground in this area has been removed from the previous forming work.

The berm along the north wall next to and behind 18 Yonge St. has been removed and some excavation has begun to reach a level which will allow the tieback machine to continue its work along the north wall.

If someone is really clever they could figure out the depth of the hole by counting the number of steps in the ladder leaning against the scaffolding near Lake Shore Blvd. The standard distance between ladder rungs is twelve inches according to Wiki

 

[raptor]

Work started on the deck above the rails!

 

[DSC]

I assume that's a pile of railroad ties (sleepers in UK-talk). It really seems you can't excavate anywhere south of Front without finding them.
Thanks for your weekly updates!

 

[ptbotrmpfn]

A time lapse would be cool for this project

 

[Filip]

I assume that's a pile of railroad ties (sleepers in UK-talk). It really seems you can't excavate anywhere south of Front without finding them.
Thanks for your weekly updates!
View attachment 127494

The good old days of dumping your spare ties into the lake. Hehe

 

[junctionist]

I'm wondering how the ties got there. It's possible that they were combined with fill when the land was reclaimed from the lake. Or the railways that used the reclaimed land buried them to get rid of them.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

On another note - looks like they are drilling the support columns for the overhead park in the middle of the corridor.

AoD

 

[DSC]

I'm wondering how the ties got there. It's possible that they were combined with fill when the land was reclaimed from the lake. Or the railways that used the reclaimed land buried them to get rid of them.

Or, more likely, there were rail lines ON the land and when the berm was built they were not usable so they removed the rails but left the ties. Only way to really know would be to see if they are lying in a pile or are arranged like a railway. From the 1913 Goads it looks as though there were many rail sidings in that area.

 

[junctionist]

I based my comment on the pile in the photo, but perhaps the construction crews dumped them into a pile as they uncovered them from an old railway line.

 

[cc46]

Going to try and post a few historical pics of the harbour in this area. Looks like only thumbnails, hope you can see these. Thank you moderator for fixing the thumbnails!

These were taken from a Facebook page called Vintage Toronto and were collected from Toronto archives and Globe and Mail and Toronto Star archives.

Most of these photos have the Toronto Harbour Commision bldg and the Royal York Hotel and Union Station in them. A few photos have the Canada Post office building that is the Air Canada Centre today.
1) dumping of dredged material around 1910
2) harbour looking east around 1886
3) more dumping of dredged harbour material
4) looking west, Union Station to the right and Toronto harbour Commision Building to the left, 1920s. Water is far inland from the Toronto Harbour Commision Building
5) Rendering of proposal to continue to fill in the harbour. Green areas are where the water is to be filled in. This is late 1920s.
6) This is 1929: East of Yonge, so just outside of the CIBC site today. Shows the infilled land south of the rail corridor, and no Gardner yet.
7) I believe this is Bay and Harbour in the 30s
8) Harbour again in the 20s, THC Building has water all around it.
9) Bay and Front 1934
10) harbour 1938
11) Canada Post Office Bldg, now the Air Canada Centre, which is across Bay Street from the CIBC project.

Excavations in the areas of reclaimed land may yield interesting finds but mostly it’s dregeded material from the bottom of the harbour.

 

[YDS]

I always knew that the Toronto Harbour Commission Building used to be at the edge of the lake. But that fourth-to-last photo really brings home how far the land has been extended into the lake. Wow!!

 

[DSC]

I always knew that the Toronto Harbour Commission Building used to be at the edge of the lake. But that fourth-to-last photo really brings home how far the land has been extended into the lake. Wow!!

Interesting too to see that the Dominion Public Building was built in 2 phases - not surprising, but interesting!

 

[Gizmo]

Notice from Hines

Dear neighbours,

On October 24th, the Southcore Community Association hosted a public meeting on the project, which allowed us the opportunity to present the project and to hear feedback from the community. As part of that meeting, we committed to providing updates on our progress.

Since this meeting, EllisDon, our General Contractor, has completed the installation of a structure along Bay Street that will serve as a temporary material drop-off in order to keep construction activity out of Bay Street, so as not to impede local traffic.

EllisDon continues the installation of the retention system tie-backs on the south, west and north sides of the excavation and the removal of soil and rock material. This excavation must be completed by mid-January of next year. To complete this work on schedule, we anticipate the need to work extended hours from December 1st to January 19th. Upon approval from the City, we expect to work until 10 pm Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays) during this limited period.

The installation of three tower cranes should begin in January of next year. The first crane will be close to the southwest corner, the second one near the northwest corner and the third one further to the east near the middle of the site.

Excavation and drilling for the foundations to support the future overbuild park above the rail corridor should begin at the end of November and continue until the middle of February of next year. This work will occur outside of the normal train operating hours, and in coordination with work done by others in the rail corridor.

A community information website on the CIBC Square project will be available to you soon. You will be able to refer to this site for future construction and project updates. We will notify you when the site is online.

We appreciate your interest in the CIBC Square project and look forward to participating in the development of the SouthCore community.

 

[Jasonzed]