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February was a busy month at the site of Menkes Developments' Sugar Wharf community on Queens Quay east of Yonge Street by Toronto Harbour. Marking the beginning of the redevelopment of the 11.5-acre LCBO Lands, the community's first pair of condominium towers—the architectsAlliance-designed Sugar Wharf Condos—crossed an important milestone last month with the installation of a pair of tower cranes that will begin forming the underground levels for the 64 and 70-storey towers.
Excavation—reaching down 13.5 metres (44.3 feet) below grade—wrapped up very early this year, paving the way for the start of foundation work. A first tower crane was installed at the base of the pit along the site's southwest corner at the start of February, identifiable by its blue and white livery. Last weekend, a second tower crane was installed at the site's northeast corner.
An aerial view captured last Saturday morning shows one of the crane's tower mast sections being lifted into place.
The tower crane assembly was conducted with the help of a large mobile crane, which was parked in a closed eastbound lane of Lake Shore Boulevard East. Individual crane components were hoisted in place by the mobile crane one at a time, and then bolted together.
By mid-day last Saturday, the red-and-blue-painted crane was largely in place, and has since begun assisting in forming at the northeast quadrant of the site.
For several weeks crews have been carving away a caisson wall along the south end of the pit, visible in the image above where the two orange-tape covered walls meet (click on the image to enlarge it). The south wall divides the excavated pit of the condominium towers from the rising underground levels of 100 Queens Quay, a 25-storey, B+H Architects-designed office tower that kicked off construction several months before shovels went into the ground for the condos. Removal of some of the wall will create space for tunnels that will connect the two building's underground servicing and PATH connections. An extension of Harbour Street will run over top. Meanwhile, forming of the office tower's underground levels, seen below, is quickly approaching street level, and the tower will begin its above-grade rise later this year.
Additional information and images can be found in our database file for the project, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the field provided at the bottom of this page.
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