TheTigerMaster
Superstar
I'd like to see some outside firm look at this, not hired by the City/TTC. Because there really seems something conspiratorial with the present SSE situation. They've actually convinced people that Scarb has some unique topography/geology/hydrology which makes subway-building considerably more expensive and complicated than elsewhere in TO? Gimme a break.
The cost of the DRL South is approaching $7 Billion; it's not just the SSE that is expensive.
I strongly doubt anything conspiratorial is going on. Any engineer knowingly fudging with the numbers would be putting, not only their job on the line, but their entire career (their engineering license would be taken away if caught). And this would have to be coordinated with several engineers, making your suggestion even more unlikely.
If we can do these things, I think the tiny Bendale and Dorset branches of West Highland Ck shouldn't be an issue at all. The geology, topography, and hydrology aren't exactly different than elsewhere. SSE should have stations at Eglinton/Danforth and McCowan/Lawrence E done not all that different than what we've built in the past. No 10-storey depth, nor extremely unreasonable costs. If it does involve a bridge structure, let's see it presented. Don't hide the option entirely.
Likewise, the DRL is also going to absurd depths.
Excluding our subway bridges and focusing on underground infrastructure here. We just finished tunneling through swampland alongside Black Ck, in its floodplain, adjacent to a sizable tributary - and built a station there (407). We built York Mills stn below the West Don, literally with the river flowing overtop the station box. Then there's the shortlived Eglinton-Scarboro Subway; Metrolinx didn't mention anything about the complexity of tunneling below the enormous Don Valley nor extreme depths for the nearby station at Don Mills. It was a nonissue. Not to mention there's several other creeks and buried rivers we pass over/under/adjacent to for our subway system.
We have different safety standards, and new construction priorities. Noise and vibration reduction is a top priority nowadays - something that wasn't true prior to the 90s. Noise reduction is one of the main reasons why these tunnels are so deep, if the information I've learned at public sessions is correct. And of course, construction costs have been increasing across the industry; not just in Toronto