Toronto The Well | 174.03m | 46s | RioCan | Hariri Pontarini

[Red Mars]

Pics taken Aug 22, 2017

 

[Therion]

I don't think I've ever seen a site with six excavators working at the same time. Marvelous.

 

[AHK]

Took a closer look at the remaining freestanding structural component on the site - the little shed like structure with some pipes attached to its south side. Now that almost all the rest of the preexisting structure is gone (other than the ramp section abutting the Stantec building at 401 Wellington West), it is possible to get a clearer view of the little structure. Visible on the inside, not clearly shown in the picture below, is a large pipe valve and manifold structure. Initial thought was why would this be there - the overall building was not that big, but then - there was the large press room, and presses can have a water wash for their rollers and blankets - an industrial scale amount of water consumption when running.

Which then leads to the question - why, when so much else of the demolition has been done, has this piece been left behind?

I suspect the answer may be seen in the next picture - the connection between the City water main on Front Street may not have a shut-off valve between the water main and the former Globe & Mail property - the water supply is still active up to the point of the shut-off valves on the manifold in this remnant of the building.

And low and behold - a new hole, marked by City of Toronto construction cones, has appeared on Front Street - in front of the structure with the manifold.

My suspicion - the City is finally getting around to cutting off the water supply off to the site, so GreenPro can finally complete demolition of this component.

 

[smably]

Nice sleuthing! Would have brought a whole new meaning to "the well" if they'd demolished that building without cutting off the water first.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

Took a closer look at the remaining freestanding structural component on the site - the little shed like structure with some pipes attached to its south side. Now that almost all the rest of the preexisting structure is gone (other than the ramp section abutting the Stantec building at 401 Wellington West), it is possible to get a clearer view of the little structure. Visible on the inside, not clearly shown in the picture below, is a large pipe valve and manifold structure. Initial thought was why would this be there - the overall building was not that big, but then - there was the large press room, and presses can have a water wash for their rollers and blankets - an industrial scale amount of water consumption when running.

View attachment 119436


Which then leads to the question - why, when so much else of the demolition has been done, has this piece been left behind?

I suspect the answer may be seen in the next picture - the connection between the City water main on Front Street may not have a shut-off valve between the water main and the former Globe & Mail property - the water supply is still active up to the point of the shut-off valves on the manifold in this remnant of the building.

And low and behold - a new hole, marked by City of Toronto construction cones, has appeared on Front Street - in front of the structure with the manifold.

My suspicion - the City is finally getting around to cutting off the water supply off to the site, so GreenPro can finally complete demolition of this component.

View attachment 119437

Some awesome insight and analysis!

 

[ADRM]

Nice sleuthing! Would have brought a whole new meaning to "the well" if they'd demolished that building without cutting off the water first.

Well said.

 

[AHK]

Hydrovac truck on Front Street earlier this morning, waiting for the City crew to arrive. It appears that use of an excavator to reach the water main, and the shut-off valve for the supply pipe to the Globe lands is not possible - there is a major gas main along side the water main...

 

[AHK]

Three photos from the work to remove the Globe Lands water supply connection from the City main under Front Street - with a comment after the third photo....

The dead shut-off valve between the City main and the lateral supply pipe for the Globe & Mail building. So this is what long established components in our water supply system can look like, that is our drinking water supply system...

 

[UrbanAffair]

...and yet here we all are, with no real ailments to speak of from our water supply. Jokes aside, is that component considered unsafe or unusable? I guess what I am wondering is, what is the economic life of city water piping and its components? Thanks for all the detailed reporting and pictures, pretty interesting stuff.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Are we sure it's dead- did someone poke it?

 

[maestro]

...and yet here we all are, with no real ailments to speak of from our water supply. Jokes aside, is that component considered unsafe or unusable? I guess what I am wondering is, what is the economic life of city water piping and its components? Thanks for all the detailed reporting and pictures, pretty interesting stuff.

Lot of people in my neighbourhood have a high lead content from lead pipes and are recommended not to drink their water. It's not the city owned pipes. It's not the pipes in the house. It's the connecting pipe from public property to the house that no one ever considers replacing because of the cost and disruption to landscaping.

 

[Adjei]

Taken today

 

[DSC]

The dead shut-off valve between the City main and the lateral supply pipe for the Globe & Mail building. So this is what long established components in our water supply system can look like, that is our drinking water supply system...

The main water pipes are generally cast iron (or at least the old ones are) so seeing them covered in rust outside is normal. From time to time the City flushes them out and relines them but the constant flow of water usually keeps them pretty clean inside.

 

[Contra]

I hope this amount of labour continues through the building process. With such a big site it will be fascinating to have all this work being done at once.

 

[UrbanAffair]

Lot of people in my neighbourhood have a high lead content from lead pipes and are recommended not to drink their water. It's not the city owned pipes. It's not the pipes in the house. It's the connecting pipe from public property to the house that no one ever considers replacing because of the cost and disruption to landscaping.

Interesting. I've lived all over this city and never had that issue. I wonder if it's specific to a certain area of the city core with older connections perhaps.