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Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

raptor said:
TBM Tracker was updated about an hour ago. Dennis is about 250m (at Marlee) from the extraction shaft. Lea is trailing by about 350m (at Oakwood now)
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Also a message:

Note TBMs might be parked currently to coordinate with the completion of the extraction and launch shafts at Allen Road.
Locations will be updated only when there is significant movement.
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ehlow said:
Also a message:
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Also, according to this:
...Utility relocation work in the centre lanes is expected to start as soon as late October 2014. This will be followed a switch to the south side which is expected to be complete by early 2015. Construction of the headwall and extraction shaft will commence thereafter...
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To me, that means the extraction shafts will only be done by mid-2015, late by about half a year.
 
crs1026 said:
I do hope you get a good answer from Metrolinx, but I'm not optimistic. As I understand it, the contracting strategy that Metrolinx is using gives the contractors a lot of latitiude to set and adjust their own schedule so long as overall targets are met. So any one 'bump' in the schedule may not even be disclosable to Metrolinx. (In fairness, all may be well, we sidewalk superintendent junkies just aren't in the loop!)

A big issue for me is the lack of transparency and public oversight (I mean oversight by the average citizen, not some political panel that is sworn to secrecy) on project management of these big projects, transit or otherwise. It's not constructive for everyone in the city- or the media - to make a big issue about some minor schedule slippage, but it's also not good if some major issue arises and months go by with the issue (and potential accountabilities for cost or schedule or quality) swept under the carpet. We saw that with the Spadina line when work halted for months due to unforeseens with foundations of York University buildings, and we saw it with the Niagara Tunnel project when Big Becky hit unexpected rock conditions. In both cases the progress maps simply showed the tunnelling not advancing, and no comment was made for quite a long time. In my view (as a taxpayer) that's not acceptable.

If I ran the world, some level of the project Gantt chart would be publicly accessible, with cost information (at least on a red/green basis), and major changes to the schedule documented over the project lifetime. I'm sure the GO Executive and Board would say that it's their job to oversee this stuff on our behalf, but they simply have too many publicity staff and too much latitude to answer to politicians 'in camera' to trust the governance.

- Paul
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I think you are right about the contractor/client relationship, however in most contracts like this the contractor is getting fixed fee to do the work and pays penalties if they are late, so delays are not paid for by the taxpayer. In a multi-stage operation the contractor will get as much work done as possible in one area, even if they have to later stop and wait for other things to get done elsewhere, in order to minimize the risk of delays.

Publishing a detailed schedule would not benefit Metrolinx or the contractor in any way - it would only make them the target of criticism from armchair critics whenever the schedule changes - and the schedule probably changes on a weekly basis. No one needs that headache. If you were building a deck and re-landscaping your backyard would you give a detailed day-by-day construction schedule to your neighbours so they could keep track of your progress? Of course not. You'd tell them you're completing the work over the course of the summer and it should be finished sometime in August, maybe early September.
 
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howl said:
If you were building a deck and re-landscaping your backyard would you give a detailed day-by-day construction schedule to your neighbours so they could keep track of your progress? Of course not. You'd tell them you're completing the work over the course of the summer and it should be finished sometime in August, maybe early September.
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Well, now you're talking spousal oversight, which is a whole lot more constraining ;-)

Seriously, I agree totally. The question for me is, what is the threshold where some public information ought to be provided and what prevents potential larger issues from being spun into a less than transparent story line? The temptation to look for the "dirt" increases when there is a vacuum of information. The TTC CEO's monthly report to the Board on TYSSE (which is posted on line) is pretty good, for instance, but only started well into the project after some things may have shifted significantly ...baseline versus most recent schedule is one important dimension for transparency since towards the end of a project the political level will gladly rewrite history and declare success based on the end schedule/budget/scope rather than what was originally approved.

As for the TBM progress chart, it seems to have been diligently kept up all year - much more frequent updates than TYSSE did, which is a good thing - it was the sudden lack of progress reporting that raised my eyebrows. A little context (as now provided) helps. And if the extraction shaft work is falling behind, at some point someone ought to come clean or at least assure that the overall schedule isn't compromised.

- Paul
 
The contractors have begin to dig the extraction shafts in preparation for the arrival of Dennis and Lea at Allen Station in a few weeks. Sorry, I don't have any pictures.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
The contractors have begin to dig the extraction shafts in preparation for the arrival of Dennis and Lea at Allen Station in a few weeks. Sorry, I don't have any pictures.
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The just started that now? What have they been doing for the past year which had traffic down to two lanes? At this point they should have an extraction shaft and be working on the launch shaft.
 
EnviroTO said:
The just started that now? What have they been doing for the past year which had traffic down to two lanes? At this point they should have an extraction shaft and be working on the launch shaft.
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They had been prepping the sites for the digging. The actual excavation is the last step in the process, and in the grand scheme of things not a long one.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
Lots of construction throughout central Eglinton. Some of the construction zones are swapping positions. The massive one just east of Yonge is in the middle of the road now instead of north.
 
ehlow said:
Lots of construction throughout central Eglinton. Some of the construction zones are swapping positions. The massive one just east of Yonge is in the middle of the road now instead of north.
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Do we know what's going on with the construction zone on Eglinton just east of Yonge? For at least the past few weeks that area has been reduced to one lane but I don't recall seeing any construction happening there.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Do we know what's going on with the construction zone on Eglinton just east of Yonge? For at least the past few weeks that area has been reduced to one lane but I don't recall seeing any construction happening there.
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? There were tons of construction workers, piling rigs, bulldozers, various types of trucks, making noise, digging up the sidewalks, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say you didn't see construction happening.

Maybe you were there later in the day when the workday was over? :)

But yes it's utility work.
http://thecrosstown.ca/news-media/w...ork-near-yonge-street-for-crosstown-tunelling
 
Hey Folks, a week ago i sent some emails to Metrolinx about the whole Allen Road Shafts/ TBM stoppage etc. This is what I got back:

Thank you for your inquiries regarding the Crosstown.

The Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM’s) are stopped for planned maintenance on a regular basis. We anticipate the TBM’s to arrive at the Allen Road area in the coming month. Upon their arrival, planned refurbishments of the equipment will take a few months before the anticipated re-launch towards Yonge St. During this time the contractor will continue scheduled work on the extraction shaft and continue preparations of the new launch shaft. On the east, work at the Brentcliffe launch shaft is well underway. Humber, Don, Lea and Dennis are scheduled to arrive at either side of Yonge St. in 2016. Shafts take up to 2 years to construct and the work is on schedule and progressing swiftly.

As soon as these details are confirmed around the re-launch of the TBMs at the Allen, we will be happy to share those through our usual communication channels.

We thank you once again for your interest in the project.

Best regards,
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So from this I understand that refurbishments of the TBM will wake place both inside the tunnel and outside during relaunch. So while it may soon appear that they have not made any drive-distance progression to Yonge over the next little while, crews are in fact carrying out work on the machines below.

Work is progressing according to the schedule. I also inquired as to whether their schedules have been squeezed by last years ice storm and potential delays over the year and if so, was that budgeted into their forecast and contractor contingency time. I didnt get a direct response to those parts particularly but i suppose they have in some fashion answered that.
 
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