Toronto Waterlink at Pier 27 | 43.89m | 14s | Cityzen | a—A

This is one of my favorite projects for the city and its waterfront profile.

A question: what is the plan to redesign this area when the city takes possession of the land adjacent to the development? Will there be a connection between the ferry dock and the new waterfront promenade, or will it be disconnected like everything else? This area has a lot of potential.
 
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Question, how are they keep the water out? This is all landfill/reclaimed land, how are they making sure the water doesn't just come rushing back in or seep through the soil? Like when you dig a hole at the beach too close to the water?
 
Interesting. Another question about foundations... what are they built on? In other words I know they dig a big hole down 3-4 stories, but then do they just start pouring concrete right onto the ground and go okay, this our foundation. Or do they pack down the ground and then just pour concrete on it? What does the actual foundation of these huge highrises sit on? Also is it necessary to alwas dig a 4 story hole or could you theoretically just start building up and lay a foundation on the existing ground?
 
hawc:

Bedrock? - I think it's shale in Toronto. If the load is high, you probably need to get to the bedrock and build on top of it (or use friction piles if the bedrock is too deep, like Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur).

There are also the raft foundations where the building basically "floats" on top of the soil, but I don't think this is a case of it.

AoD
 
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So the real point of digging down is trying to get to the bedrock? Not just for parking like I always assumed it was.
 
hawc said:
Interesting. Another question about foundations... what are they built on? In other words I know they dig a big hole down 3-4 stories, but then do they just start pouring concrete right onto the ground and go okay, this our foundation. Or do they pack down the ground and then just pour concrete on it? What does the actual foundation of these huge highrises sit on? Also is it necessary to alwas dig a 4 story hole or could you theoretically just start building up and lay a foundation on the existing ground?
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Clearly you want to build on something solid - usually bedrock. Some tall/heavy buildings ARE built right on the ground (e.g. Market Wharf) but have concrete piles rght down to bedrock to support them. Others (most high-rises, in fact in Toronto) dig down to and into the bedrock so they can build without piles below the building. If there is no bedrock near enough to the surface or you are building on permafrost or ?? you need to spread the weight so that the building does not shift. Not too hard to do for a house but harder for a super-tall. If you are excavating fairly soft earth to reach the bedrock you need to put in piles around the site to prevent cave-ins during construction.

If your lower floors are below the water table you need to be sure that there is no leakage into your basement so you need to be much more careful about waterproofing the walls below grade and will need good sump pumps (Most buildings have these but if you are built below lake level (as here) they ahd better be damned good.)
 
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I think Market Wharf used piles to avoid having to deal with contaminated soils - I think the general preference in Toronto is having parking underground if at all possible and that generally translates into excavation to bedrock, which happens to be relatively accessible. In places like Hong Kong piling is the default since stable bedrock is usually far too deep to be accessed that way, plus very high watertables due to building on reclaimed land which means underground parking is rare for all but prestigious commercial offices.

Speaking of piling, I think River City used that too, since it's sitting on the WDL flood protection landform.

AoD
 
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Nov 23
Since I was only 2 block from the site after a meeting and had some time before the next one, took some shots.

This whole project should be out of the ground at the end of Jan.

They were stripping the old sale office inside as I walked by and the display was still there.

I sure wouldn't want to be living on the east side of the first building.
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