Services don't (or shouldn't) pass through the building footprint, but there is another problem that I've never received an answer to. As the photo above shows, the shoring is supported by ground anchors (the cables that we see protruding into the excavation from the face of the shoring). Outside the shoring, these anchors -- each of which is a group of about 7 high tensile steel wires -- extend about 15m into the ground. In effect, the excavation is like a buried porcupine. These tendons remain in the ground for all time, and so will obstruct any potential underground excavation in the adjacent streets. With these obstructions, will it be possible to undertake tunnelling or excavate subway station entrances near to these basement excavations? Given the number of these basement excavations in the downtown core, does their presence effectively prevent construction of any new subsurface infrastructure in the area?