Day 1: Monday October 26, 2009
- Although construction south of Dundas has been progressing for a long time, today was the first day crews started working north of Dundas. Crews were starting to dig into the concrete and rails starting a driveway north of Dundas, stretching to about 50m south of Gould. Traffic was restricted to southbound only starting at Gould.
- Work continues south of Gould, today work was stretching up all the way to Gould. Dumpsters have been dropped off on the northbound curb lane of Church north of Gould, and barriers were being set up along both sidewalks to prevent pedestrians from jay-walking across the construction site.
- Construction today consists of removing the steel rails from the road and removing them from the site.
- Lots of activity today north of Dundas. The section from 50m south of Gould to 25m north (including the intersection of Church/Gould) has been excavated. By noon all the rails and concrete was dug up, with a few remaining wooden ties being removed. Gould Street has been closed between Church and Mutual because of the construction, and pedestrians must now cross 25m north of Gould, underneath the overpass. Pedestrians crossing Gould may still do so at the intersection; only E-W traffic is affected.
- By 3:00 (when I went to photograph in the rain), concrete was being poured for the base from about 50m south of Gould and heading northward - suggesting that they want to get the intersection reopened as soon as possible. I cannot find any rails in the vicinity of the site though.
- South of Dundas, no work is proceeding today. The block south of Dundas is in various stages of construction - the track looks untouched for a few metres past the intersections with Dundas and Shuter, and heading north, progresses from dug hole (dirt bottom) to 1st concrete layer, then rail supports, then rails on top of the supports, then a 2nd concrete layer to the bottom of the rails. Very interesting to watch the progression in the levels of track construction in one block. Oh - TTC vehicle #607 "Swingmaster" is present on the north side of Shuter. Looks like some sort of front-end loader type vehicle but possibly used for rail placement.
- Significant progress has happened. The section 50m south of Gould to 25m north of Gould has had the first layer of concrete completely poured (which would've been done last night) and by noon the section had the streetcar rails set up and suspended. Between noon and 2:00 TTC engineers (or at least people wearing TTC safety vests) were surveying the tracks. The Swingmaster (607) had made its way to north of Gould and assumedly it installed the rails earlier that morning. There were a number of TTC vehicles present including two trucks and 697, a front-end loader.
- Boxes of rails and rubber cushioning were delivered overnight onto the curb lane of northbound traffic (currently blocked off), and some of the rails were used this morning while there are still a lot of rails in the boxes.
- A 2nd layer of concrete was poured (from the 1st layer to the bottom of the rails) was poured during the evening in the Gould Street intersection to 25m north of Gould.
- Besides for the busy activity on the section crossing Gould, no other work has happened on the other sections of the project.
- In the morning, due Thursday's Pub Night a smashed pumpkin now resides in the tracks south of Gould (assumedly this would get cleaned out before any concrete was poured).
- Prep work was being done for the final top layer of concrete in the Gould intersection, which was poured during the evening.
- Again, no other work was done on other sections.
- The 3rd layer was unmolded during the morning, and the Gould St. intersection was reopened to pedestrians (although still closed to vehicles, presumably to allow the track to fully harden).
- Church and Gould becomes fully reopened (well, excluding northbound traffic).
- Excavation of the section of Church north of Gould has started.
- Supports for rails have been put up between Gould and Dundas, installation of the rails is pending (presumably will be installed either later today or on Tuesday).
- Concrete is being poured for the top layer only in the portion between the rails for the section south of Dundas. This goes right up to the existing track at Dundas Street.
- Rails were laid in the early morning for the remaining portion between Dundas and Gould, but they have not been aligned or attached to the steel ties.
- Excavation continued between Gould and Gerrard.
- Today was mainly about concrete pouring. The last bits of the top layer of concrete north and south of Gould were finished, and a significant amount of concrete south of Queen was poured (2nd and final layers).
- The rails between Gould and Dundas were straightened, aligned and attached to their ties.
- Pouring of the 1st layer of concrete commenced in one steady pour north from Gould towards Gerrard.
- Rails were laid out on the section between Gould and Gerrard.
- More concrete was poured on the sections just south of Gould, so only the top layer between the middle rails needs to be poured.
- The rails laid out yesterday (Gould-Gerrard) were attached to their steel ties, and alignment of the rails began. I also believe the laid out rails were welded to the rails put in at the Gould intersection.
Day 14 - Sunday November 8, 2009
- No work was done this weekend.
- The Swingmaster (607) was parked on Gould behind a front-end loader (697) which has been parked there for most of the week.
- Tracks have all been aligned and attached to their steel ties between Gould and Gerrard.
- The 2nd layer of concrete was poured for most of the section between Gould and Gerrard. A small portion was still unpoured during the afternoon south of Gerrard, as crews were working on something with the rails.
- The top layer of concrete was poured between the rails and between the outside rails and the asphalt for the entire section between Gould and Gerrard. Pouring started between the southbound rails, then progressed to the northbound side.
- Another section of the top layer between the middle rails was also poured between Dundas and Gould, along with other pouring just north of Dundas.
- Tracks were laid out north of Gerrard.
- The concrete poured on Wednesday was covered in tarps, and therefore no other work could be done north of Gould.
- Finally, the very last bit of concrete pouring commenced. The section between the middle rails from Gould to Gerrard and a final small section between Dundas and Gould were poured.
Day 23 - Tuesday November 17, 2009
- All work was done at this point
- Tracks were uncovered between Gould and Gerrard, with the concrete inspected by TTC personnel.
- Signs showing that Church is about to fully reopen are evident, as the metal barriers have been removed and grouped on the two middle lanes between Dundas and Gerrard. Only the orange and black pylons remain blocking traffic from the other 3 lanes.
- Those metal barriers in groups were removed during the day, although Church is still closed. Nothing else seems to be blocking them from reopening the lanes.
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