Toronto L-Tower | 204.82m | 58s | Cityzen | Daniel Libeskind

I don't know if we ever got the specs on that BMU, but that thing must be ginormous. What's the stickout on it? 60-70'? I've never been that far out on a house rig, but the odd times I've been scoped all the way out horizontally on a boom lift it's a bit unsettling to watch the whole thing bending and straining under the load. I bet it's zero fun to have that experience 650'+ off the ground.
 
I am still a bit confused as to what parts of this BMU fell where (sounds like it came down in two sections). Pics of the aftermath would help...though I'm not sure that would be possible at this point.
 
Wow, I wonder if the counterweight (the part that fell) ever goes over the edge or if it always stays over the roof/maintenance floors by design. This is bad, but if that counterweight had of dropped the whole way (possibly hitting the side of the building on the way down) it could have been an incredible disaster.

As mentioned, the building can't seem to catch a break - this seems like a fluke accident that is totally uncorrelated to the other building issues.
 
Star Fox said:
Wow, I wonder if the counterweight (the part that fell) ever goes over the edge or if it always stays over the roof/maintenance floors by design. This is bad, but if that counterweight had of dropped the whole way (possibly hitting the side of the building on the way down) it could have been an incredible disaster.

As mentioned, the building can't seem to catch a break - this seems like a fluke accident that is totally uncorrelated to the other building issues.
Click to expand...
Well a crane weight falling from a new and very expensive 'crane' that appears never to have been used to wash windows and several major water leak problems are clearly not really connected, except that they all occurred in fairly new building that clearly had 'construction issues'. Caveat emptor!
 
You can see pictures of it in this old UT story. https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/09/derrick-removal-ends-long-chapter-l-tower-saga

I think when it rotates to service the south elevation the counterweight is hanging past the "slot" in the crown. I guess when the counterweight fell off it was balanced over the slot, and that's why it dropped 20'?

I'm curious how they'll fix it. If they needed that big platform and the derrick to install it originally will they need to re-build the platform to do the repairs? And how do you get the derrick and platform up there with no BMU?
 
whatever said:
I don't know if we ever got the specs on that BMU, but that thing must be ginormous. What's the stickout on it? 60-70'? I've never been that far out on a house rig, but the odd times I've been scoped all the way out horizontally on a boom lift it's a bit unsettling to watch the whole thing bending and straining under the load. I bet it's zero fun to have that experience 650'+ off the ground.
Click to expand...

I think they changed BMU providers during construction but I’m not sure if this 2012 posted version or the manufacturer is of the supplied BMU but I assume the dimensions should be applicable.


udo said:
Building Maintenance Unit

Remember the question about how the L-Tower windows will be cleaned, especially the ones on the curved north face? I have been exchanging emails with Paul Belaskie at Ankor Engineering Systems Inc. They engineer, manufacture and install building facade access and safety systems across Canada, specializing in engineering systems that are required to provide workers with safe access to work areas where fall hazards and building maintenance are needed. Ankor Engineering is the sub-contractor at the L Tower. This is how Paul described to me the window cleaning solution for the L Tower:

"Simply put there will be a crane type Building Maintenance Unit (BMU) on the opposite side of the long curve. It will suspend a swing stage over the long curve. The swing stage will engage a special mullion strip (guide rails) that will draw the stage close to the building the entire length. The BMU will be similar to the one we used on Trump Toronto."

Paul now shared a drawing of the impressive L Tower BMU that they are going to install. He said it would be all right for me to post the drawing on UrbanToronto. Click on the image to enlarge it to full size.

Click to expand...
 
mburrrrr said:
I think they changed BMU providers during construction but I’m not sure if this 2012 posted version or the manufacturer is of the supplied BMU but I assume the dimensions should be applicable.
Click to expand...

!!!

Oh my god. Wow. At 31649 mm (and that's not even to the fulcrum) that's over 100'. I get that having the extending counterweight helps mitigate that, but holy crap. That thing is a monster. I'd love to see the load charts for that.
 
whatever said:
!!!

Oh my god. Wow. At 31649 mm (and that's not even to the fulcrum) that's over 100'. I get that having the extending counterweight helps mitigate that, but holy crap. That thing is a monster. I'd love to see the load charts for that.
Click to expand...
So, I bet, would those who might have been "out" on it!
 
Source for this is a friend who sent it from a local Facebook group. i.e. no idea whose photo it is so if that is a problem, let me know and I can delete.

l-tower-2021-07-10-205349.jpg
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top