For GO Crews using the Georgetown line, you will have a new block signal come Monday or early this week for Old Weston Rd. It will be on the east side of the existing one and will be taller to give you better line of site sooner. This will allow crews to start work on the west retaining wall this year.
Come March 15 2014 or about, trains will be using the new grade separation tunnel.
Photos should be on line in the next few days. As for videos, it maybe a washout due to the time line and the various issues with the move. Even Metrolinx will have issues also for the time lap video.
The Old Weston Rd deck span made to its resting place about 9:00pm Sat, 2 hrs before its schedule time and 7.5 hours after it started to move. Span started off at 19m per hour and was down to 17m at the end The first move was 22m and there was hope to have it up at 22m to 25m. Even if they did, it wouldn't help the move.
Police were on both side to make sure people didn't enter the area before the 4 am start as well keeping outside from crossing the corridor. A few people try this, but were turn away.
A 325 ton mobile crane show at about 2.15am on the west side while a 300 ton arrived on the east side.
3:30 am, a very large CP crew show up and was bigger than the first move.
At 4am, A&B Rail haven't shown up yet to allow crews on site even though the blocking was in place for both tracks. A short time later, CP crews went to work unbolt the fish plates for all the tracks section that had to be remove. Both cranes removed 2 section each and were place on either side of the corridor.
All the fencing was removed along the west side to allow the crane to sit up as well movement of equipment.
Part of the existing road to the north was partly removed Friday. (Part 2 to follow)
Based on confirmation of various readings for the jackets and the system, it was decided to carrying moving the deck some where between 2:30 and 2:35pm. This caught nearly everyone off guard for the 3pm time. The only one knew the deck was moving were the crew and those standing on the deck.
I and others were not prepare to start video shooting of the move and to shoot it.
In fact the move almost started at 1pm as only a few liners on the east side still had to be removed and would be done by the time the span made it there. The liners weight 15.4 tonnes each.
At 8am, I made the statement that based on the work done so far as well to be done, 1pm look very good. A few hours later, message were being sent saying the move was going to start a 1pm.
At 5:15, the first of many failures took place with one of the jack eating one of the cables. After 45 minutes of removing the fail cable, the span was on the move again.
Even if the cable not fail, the move had to stop as it was on the rear of the excavators that would add to more failures.
Because the excavators were not moving that fast, the move had to start and stop a number of time. At 7:30 with only 12m to go, a 2nd cable failure because of the stop and start and was removed in 20 minutes this time.
As it near the final position, an excavator stop because of a failure. The span had to stop again.
Finally they got the excavator fix and it finally left the trench so the span could get to it position.
Unlike the last time, reading were taken during the last stop to make sure the span was align correctly for final placement. This allow the span to be position up to the stop bar without stopping.
Back filling was taken place along the east side during the last hour since they was a wide gap between the span and the caisson. With the span in position, back filling would now move a full ramp up along the east side while the west side being temper so back filling could take place later on.
There are retaining walls on both ends of the span and will be finish off now that the span is in position.
The current track from/to the Lampton Yard will beside the new road with extra space south of it for the future track.
CP has said they will be happy once the 3 existing crossing are removed late March 2014 or early April as it will remove extra cost and maintenance to maintain them, as well replacing them.