[kotsy]

A little late but I took these last Tuesday & Wednesday evening.

 

[fanoftoronto]

A little late but I took these last Tuesday & Wednesday evening.

View attachment 347282View attachment 347283

Woohoo! I get to play "Find the 'Kotsy' Sign" game again!

Amazing shots as always @kotsy

 

[TRONto]

Hey guys, great photos capturing the demolition!
I work for PDI and haul heavy equipment. I was on nights during this weekend, it’s nice to find a forum where there is positivity over this demo job. Here is some on site footage.View attachment 347229View attachment 347230View attachment 347232View attachment 347231View attachment 347233View attachment 347234View attachment 347235View attachment 347235View attachment 347236View attachment 347237View attachment 347238View attachment 347239View attachment 347240View attachment 347241

Great pictures!

 

[TRONto]

They should keep a pair of the pillars on the west side of the Don as a memorial to the Logan Ramps and also, maybe they can put up signs that say "Welcome to East Harbour" or something like that.
View attachment 347280

The existing pillars on the east are more than enough (I assume those are staying)

 

[drum118]

The existing pillars on the east are more than enough (I assume those are staying)

It maybe great to try to retain a bent or 2, but how do you get 6 lanes of traffic through them when it was built for 4 lanes??

Every thing has to come down west of the Don Ways as that whole area will be redevelop as well widening of the mouth of the Don.

You can leave a post only with a short section at the top as a reminder of past days, but that must happen now before they are gone.

 

[kotsy]

Many thanks

Woohoo! I get to play "Find the 'Kotsy' Sign" game again!

Amazing shots as always @kotsy

 

[DSCToronto]

Just back from 'inspecting' the cycling detour down Carlaw and Commissioners. What a TOTAL mess - virtually no signage, track surface appalling, constantly switching from uni-directional tracks to bi-directional one. The City clearly knows how to make proper bike tracks and knows how to fix asphalt and deal with drainage issues but for some reason this one is a TOTAL FAIL.

UPDATE: I wrote to Becky Katz at the City who replied and said "Please continue to send feedback and questions to plfp@ellisdon.com " Others who have comments may want to follow her advice!

 

[EnviroTO]

Any idea if they are tearing down all the way back to bent 329? I'm curious how cleanly the Gardiner will be cut back to the DVP ramp. I can't wait to go down there when this is done and see the sky from the north shore of the Keating Channel.

 

[hawc]

When's the next major demolition planned? Is it only weekends? And then clean up for Monday morning each time?

 

[Thewardens_hauling_heavy]

Amazing photos! Wow.

Question, what do you use to cut through the huge steel sections? Is it always just a plasma cutter, or would you ever use a thermic lance? What would be the benefits/drawback of each?

We used Thermal Lances on this one over the Plasma for portability and to keep torchman at a better distance while in the baskets also thermal lances seen to work better for on site when thick steel with many angles are involved. On these mass cutting jobs sparks do happen to get into respirators and do smoulder. Even with being a few more feet back with the lances it does happen but we’ve found less than plasma.

 

[Thewardens_hauling_heavy]

When's the next major demolition planned? Is it only weekends? And then clean up for Monday morning each time?

Correct, demolition is limited to weekends. Total project timeline is 5 weekends before penalties.
PDI is aiming for a fully finished project by 4 weekends. So 3 weekends of demolition left.

Tear down of machines and haul out isn’t calculated into actual project time, so you may still see the odd machine in the staging areas as we are also working on earthworks across the road too.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Back in time...

1958 Globe: Invade Old Fort—Proposed alignment of Gardiner Expressway​

From link.

Looming large among Toronto’s myths are the tales of two expressways into the heart of the City: the Gardiner’s brush with Fort York, and the southward extension of the Allan Expressway, a.k.a. “Stop Spadina.” It is possible to see them linked not only in their sponsors’ determination to deliver progress at any cost, but also by the earnest opposition of those who fought them with such success.

The Gardiner Expressway was among the first major public works taken on by the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto following its founding in 1954. Typical perhaps of the brash style of Frederick G. Gardiner, Metro's chairman for whom it was named, the road was under construction at its western end before its route had been worked out in detail through the heart of the city. Even then, some aspects as they became known excited immediate opposition and necessitated tactical retreats by the politicians in charge. One was the idea unveiled in early 1958 to place piers for the roadway and a connecting ramp from Bathurst Street within the ramparts of Fort York. The solution to this—bending the expressway a bit and eliminating the on-ramp—seems to have done little to increase the officials’ respect for Fort York. This was seen in a truly appalling 1959 scheme to extend Highway 400 to connect with the Gardiner, in interchanges that would have sterilized upwards of 30 acres of land west and south of the fort. It foreshadowed "Stop Spadina" a decade later.

The story of the Battle of Fort York in 1958-59 and its champions is found here.

 

[tstormers]

Back in time...

1958 Globe: Invade Old Fort—Proposed alignment of Gardiner Expressway​

From link.

The story of the Battle of Fort York in 1958-59 and its champions is found here.

Look at that old beautiful baseball stadium! Love how the 400 was supposed to come down all that way to meet the Gardiner. Oh the fun we'd have had if that had connected.

 

[Thewardens_hauling_heavy]

Back in time...

1958 Globe: Invade Old Fort—Proposed alignment of Gardiner Expressway​

From link.

The story of the Battle of Fort York in 1958-59 and its champions is found
here

That is such a cool article!

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

Toronto driver's windshield smashed by concrete falling from Gardiner Expressway​

From link.

Try as they might to take down parts of the crumbling Gardiner Expressway in a controlled fashion, the City of Toronto has yet to prove effective in preventing cars from being thwomped by falling concrete.

Every local driver's worst nightmare came true for one man less than 24 hours ago, when a piece of the problematic highway came crashing through his back windshield.

Andrew Addison says he was driving east along Lake Shore Boulevard, beneath a portion of the Gardiner that is currently being demolished for new infrastructure in the Port Lands, around 7:45 p.m. on Thursday when he heard a loud smashing noise.

"I was stopped at a red at the Don Roadway intersection," he tells blogTO, explaining that he initially thought he had been rear-ended.

"But I looked in the rear view mirror the and car behind was pretty far back," he says.

"Then I noticed the window was shattered. A second later it all collapsed into the car, and I realized something had fallen from the steel girder, 30 feet above, that I was stopped under."

Addison pulled over immediately and called the police. An officer came to assess the situation and, after making a report, sent Addison on his way.

"He told me I could go. It didn't seem like he would be closing the road which suprised me, given the danger," said the driver. "If I had been stopped six feet further back, it would have fallen through the front windshield and I would have been quite injured or worse."

Toronto Police Service confirmed to blogTO that they did recieve a report of an object hitting a driver's windscreen last night in the Don Roadway and Lake Shore area.

"Officers attended and checked the area and any nearby structures. Nothing of concern was found," said TPS Media Relations Officer Caroline de Kloet. "The driver was directed to report the incident to the Collision Reporting Centre for insurance purposes and for further investigation."

Addison considers himself lucky to be alive, as do I'm sure others who've been in his position. Still, he's concerned about what could happen to someone else the next time Toronto's ancient elevated highway decides to shake off some concrete — especially now, while active construction takes place in the area.

The demolition of the Logan Avenue ramp is expected to continue through October of 2021, with more work to follow on Lake Shore Boulevard East itself in November.

On weekends, Lake Shore is actually being closed off between Cherry Street and Carlaw Avenue. Drivers are free to use impacted parts of the road any other time, however. Addison believes this is a bad idea.

"Lake Shore should be closed in that section," he says. "Someone could be hurt or killed."

Anyone who sees concrete falling from the Gardiner Expressway is encouraged to contact the city. You can learn how to do so here, on a website that someone at some point has deemed necessary to set up specifically for that purpose.