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- Thread starter green22
- Start date
cyruskafaiwu
New Member
Seriously, this sink hole is only like 15 metres from the digging site. Dang it, ottawa!
The area they were digging through is known as "Sandy Hill". Sand + rain + unfinished tunnel = bad news. The other 2 crews are doing just fine though. Western portal digging is already passed Bay and on it's way to Lyon, and the central shaft is proceeding east to Bank St.
Just curious, about how this will potentially play out: The Confederation Line (Phase 1) is being built as a P3 with the Rideau Transit Group, which includes a 30 year maintenance (and I believe operations) contract. When Phase 2, and every subsequent phase for that matter, how will these two contracts interact?
Will the City be forced to go with RTG for all extensions, just for the sake of continuity? Or will it still be open to a tender again? I'm just wondering how all of these pieces being built at different times will fit together from an O&M perspective. Is there a similar case somewhere else in the world?
Will the City be forced to go with RTG for all extensions, just for the sake of continuity? Or will it still be open to a tender again? I'm just wondering how all of these pieces being built at different times will fit together from an O&M perspective. Is there a similar case somewhere else in the world?
1overcosc
Active Member
My understanding is that RTG must get the contract for any new vehicles an extension necessitates, but the tracks & stations for new extensions go to tender.
Gotcha, thanks! Yes, it certainly would make sense to have all maintenance and new vehicles under the same contract, but I guess the line itself can be built by anyone.
1overcosc
Active Member
Tunneling is back on at the eastern portal! They're apparently ahead of schedule even with this holdup.
The cause of the sinkhole was determined to be an area of soil that, at some point in history, had been excavated but then filled in with loose dirt. It was so localized that it couldn't have been picked up by the geotechnical studies.
RTG is proceeding forward by adding more inspection sites throughout the area, and digging the last few metres to the bedrock through a double tier approach--digging the bottom half of the tunnel first then going back later and doing the top half to keep things more stable.
This whole affair shows the value of a full P3. The extra cost of all this is being paid for by RTG. The city is on the hook for nothing:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Sinkhole+construction+says/9646176/story.html
The cause of the sinkhole was determined to be an area of soil that, at some point in history, had been excavated but then filled in with loose dirt. It was so localized that it couldn't have been picked up by the geotechnical studies.
RTG is proceeding forward by adding more inspection sites throughout the area, and digging the last few metres to the bedrock through a double tier approach--digging the bottom half of the tunnel first then going back later and doing the top half to keep things more stable.
This whole affair shows the value of a full P3. The extra cost of all this is being paid for by RTG. The city is on the hook for nothing:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Sinkhole+construction+says/9646176/story.html
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It will be interesting to see if this project actually does come in ahead of schedule. They're saying Spring 2018 officially, but given the opposition to the buses on Scott, and the celebrations associated with Canada's 150th in 2017, if they really aren't pushing for an earlier date. I know it's unrealistic, but I think a July 1, 2017 launch would be amazing. The Canada Line opened nearly 4 months ahead of schedule, so late 2017 isn't really out of the question.
1overcosc
Active Member
From my understanding of the schedule, a 'demo' opening between the underground stations is quite feasible on July 1, 2017 if they make good time, but a full system opening is much more difficult.
The schedule calls for the downtown tunnel to be more or less finished by summer 2017 with construction work winding down significantly, meaning the tunnel with all the track, signalling, electric, etc. could easily be service-ready by Canada Day 2017 if they make good time. But uOttawa-Hurdman & Lebreton-Tunneys will still be in construction, as those segments are starting later to minimize Transitway disruption. Hurdman-Blair will also be ready fairly early; in fact the plan calls for Hurdman LRT station to be completely finished by the summer of 2016--meaning we'll have a ghost station sitting there for 2 years.
While the tunnel could be easily ready for Canada Day 2017, the trains are a bigger if. The vehicles have to be assembled on the line due to their massive size; the parts are being manufactured in New York, and then they are going to be shipped to Ottawa and assembled at the maintenance yard, construction on which is only just starting now. Because they have to build the maintenance yard first before they can even start vehicle assembly, the vehicles aren't scheduled to be ready until winter 2017-18.
It would be interesting if they do open a demo service for Canada Day 2017. It would be the next best thing to an early opening. There's no short-turn points anywhere inside the tunnel, so trains would have to restrict themselves to a single track in the event of a demo opening. It could conceivably consist of a single train starting at Rideau Station's westbound platform, heading down the westbound track to Parliament and then Lyon, and then switching direction at Lyon and running reverse-direction along the westbound track back to Rideau.
I was looking at the schedule just last week in fact, and noticed many of the things you mentioned. I believe the phasing for the downtown segment was done specifically so that construction activities on Rideau and in downtown would be done by the time 2017 festivities began. A demo around Canada Day would be pretty cool indeed.
I wonder if they can have enough trainsets ready by Canada Day 2017 to do an abbreviated service (which would require fewer trains) from Pimisi or Bayview to Hurdman. That would be a more efficient way of funnelling people out of downtown, and then people can board a bus to whatever end of the city they're heading to. It would also allow people to use the O-Train more easily.
I also wonder if the MSF is being staged in such a way that the section where vehicle assembly will be among the first parts of the building completed, that way they can start assembling vehicles even if parts of the complex are still under construction.
1overcosc
Active Member
^ Looks intense!
Also excavation of Lyon station is beginning soon. The roadheader is projected to arrive there by the end of the month.
Also excavation of Lyon station is beginning soon. The roadheader is projected to arrive there by the end of the month.
1overcosc
Active Member
Wynne & Murray have just confirmed that Ottawa gets its Phase 2 funding for the Confederation Line!!! Now all we need is the federal money, and approval for using NCC land.
I heard that too, great news! Hopefully the City has a few of the other projects that are part of Phase 2 that can be done as "quick wins". I'm thinking specifically the BRT lanes on Baseline. That's been in the TMP for a long time, so hopefully that's much closer to being shovel ready than the Western extension or the extension into Orleans.
Another quick win would be the expansion of the O-Train.
1overcosc
Active Member
O-Train extension is happening as part of Phase 2.
The TMP calls for the Baseline BRT as well as the Kanata North BRT to be fully funded by the city so they can be done whenever. The EA for Kanata North is ongoing, Baseline has actually never started. Both are scheduled for the 2020s I believe although there's no reason why they couldn't start as soon as EAs are finished. I believe the Baseline BRT is actually relatively unnecessary from a need perspective, it's more of a luxury and its projected travel counts are not quite in BRT range. It's planned to be built more for connectivity, and for potentially relieving congestion on the Confederation Line if and when that ever happens (although it's unlikely as the Confederation Line is highly scalable and can have its capacity more than double without major capital expense).
One quick win that is happening now is the Moodie Transitway extension. Construction is starting this year for completion in late 2015, last I heard. The Eagleson-Terry Fox transitway in Kanata has a completed EA and could be done at any time as well. That's a very inexpensive project, I believe it's only about $20M, yet it will improve travel times to Kanata's core significantly by replacing the slow, traffic-light filled Katimavik route currently used. It should be done ASAP IMO. That segment was slipped into the TMP at the last minute before final council approval as a cheap concession to Kanatans upset about a perceived lack of attention to them in the TMP (bullshit IMO as they got the bulk of the road projects), so I'm not sure when its scheduled.
The TMP calls for the Baseline BRT as well as the Kanata North BRT to be fully funded by the city so they can be done whenever. The EA for Kanata North is ongoing, Baseline has actually never started. Both are scheduled for the 2020s I believe although there's no reason why they couldn't start as soon as EAs are finished. I believe the Baseline BRT is actually relatively unnecessary from a need perspective, it's more of a luxury and its projected travel counts are not quite in BRT range. It's planned to be built more for connectivity, and for potentially relieving congestion on the Confederation Line if and when that ever happens (although it's unlikely as the Confederation Line is highly scalable and can have its capacity more than double without major capital expense).
One quick win that is happening now is the Moodie Transitway extension. Construction is starting this year for completion in late 2015, last I heard. The Eagleson-Terry Fox transitway in Kanata has a completed EA and could be done at any time as well. That's a very inexpensive project, I believe it's only about $20M, yet it will improve travel times to Kanata's core significantly by replacing the slow, traffic-light filled Katimavik route currently used. It should be done ASAP IMO. That segment was slipped into the TMP at the last minute before final council approval as a cheap concession to Kanatans upset about a perceived lack of attention to them in the TMP (bullshit IMO as they got the bulk of the road projects), so I'm not sure when its scheduled.
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