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TTC: Streetcar Network

Does anyone know what is going on on cherry street as for the past few days the TTC has been turning streetcars back at Parliament on the 504 A siting power issues with the overhead?
 
This may be of interest to some.

I live near the Dundas and Lansdowne intersection, which is currently undergoing reconstruction. I was chatting with one of the TTC workers the other day and he told me that they discovered a high pressure gas main directly under the road bed, and as a result they won't be installing the curve from westbound Dundas to northbound Lansdowne as they would have to pour concrete directly on top of it, which the city won't allow. He said that they will have to decommission and reconstruct the gas main over the course of the next year, and they will likely install the missing curve next year during the scheduled reconstruction of College/Lansdowne.

This checks out, given that I had observed that they weren't using heavy equipment on that corner and all the demolition work was being done by hand, slowly and painstakingly, by workers with jackhammers. I'm curious to see whether they're able to reopen the intersection in time. Definitely not looking forward to having the intersection ripped up again a year from now.

Well the city must have allowed it, because they poured concrete all over the gas pipe and laid the track for the curve you said you wouldn't be done until next year right on top of it. The project is nearly done.
 
Well the city must have allowed it, because they poured concrete all over the gas pipe and laid the track for the curve you said you wouldn't be done until next year right on top of it. The project is nearly done.
This is on TTC website:

During construction, crews uncovered a shallow gas main within the work area at the north-east corner of the intersection. With the gas main exposed, the City and TTC worked with Enbridge to carefully remove the remaining concrete and deliver a solution that would allow crews to safely install new concrete and track around the gas pipe. ....
In order to complete the remaining work at the intersection, Lansdowne Avenue between College Street and Dundas Street West, as well as the traffic lanes on the north half of Dundas Street West will remain closed until early November. There will be times of inactivity as crews await the delivery of special order materials and allow concrete to cure in stages.
 
Well the city must have allowed it, because they poured concrete all over the gas pipe and laid the track for the curve you said you wouldn't be done until next year right on top of it. The project is nearly done.
Hey, I was just passing on what some TTC worker told me. Caveat emptor, etc. But I'm glad they were able to solve whatever problem was preventing them from pouring the concrete before.
 
Does anyone know what is going on on cherry street as for the past few days the TTC has been turning streetcars back at Parliament on the 504 A siting power issues with the overhead?
Many are turning at Church during peak, or at least were yesterday.
Hey, I was just passing on what some TTC worker told me. Caveat emptor, etc. But I'm glad they were able to solve whatever problem was preventing them from pouring the concrete before.
The foreman I spoke with there some weeks back detailed what had to happen: A temporary bypass had to be built while the gas main was to be sunk below the rail height, which was literally touching the gas main, it was that close, and then the gas main diverted under a concrete hydro casing which is what determined the main be so shallow to begin with. At that time, due to the precariousness of the situation, the plan was to use a remotely controlled boring device to do it.

I had to ask: "Wasn't this all detailed on City survey maps?"...and awkward silence followed, and no answer. He was miffed. The greatest cost to the contractor isn't the extra time and second party costs, that's covered by contingency clauses in the contract. The biggest glitch is other work for other customers now delayed with cold weather imminent.
 
Its not the first time gas lines have been found where they weren't supposed to be. A contractor doing the Bay Dundas intersection hit a gas line and it wasn't not on the drawings for that area of work.

Look what happen years a go when St Clair West was being rebuilt to the point the Ministry of Labour shut the site down until all the electrical wiring was found that wasn't on any engineering drawings. Crews were getting electric shocks while doing the work, as someone fail to update the electrical drawings over the years of various changes.

Had crews go out to installed items, only to find things weren't as per drawings or found things that were never on the drawings in the first place. Cause time and money in delays and making changes to items been ship to the site either in the shop or in the field. It does cause a snowball effect that you are behind on other projects.
 
This work is three years old. The concrete on the flanges is so broken it rattles when cars drive on it. From yesterday's visit to the Leslie Barns.

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Does anyone know what is going on on cherry street as for the past few days the TTC has been turning streetcars back at Parliament on the 504 A siting power issues with the overhead?
There have been lots of TTC and Black & McDonald trucks at the TTC powerhouse or transformer at King/Cherry for last few days so it seems to be a problem inside.
 
Perhaps not fair. The ground is all fill and a Flexity is a heavy monster. But a very poor result considering both conditions were well known.
Yes, the size/weight of the Flexities was well known by time track was laid - it's either poor design or poor workmanship. The TTC seems to have lots of problems with this concrete 'flange' all over - several poor stretches on King (eg @ Frederick).
 
I could be wrong, but I believe the connection track on Leslie was built by the Leslie Barns construction contractors (Pomerleau?), and not the the typical TTC crews/contractors. The track base design is also unique due to the soft earth conditions underneath, with a reinforced concrete base, and lots of isolation for vibrations. I'm no expert, but looks like there's almost too much isolation on the concrete strip outside of the rails, so it is less secure, and thus the crumbling. Hopefully it'll just be an easy fix, and maybe still under warranty.
 
This work is three years old. The concrete on the flanges is so broken it rattles when cars drive on it. From yesterday's visit to the Leslie Barns.

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If it is a result of contractor error, how can they screw up concrete this badly? It makes me wonder if the trackbed at Leslie Barnes will be just as bad or nearly just as bad in a few years.
 

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