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CARLINGVIEW DRIVE GRADE SEPARATION

SONCIN WAS THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR METROLINX ON THEIR GEORGETOWN WEST RAIL EXPANSION PROJECT AT CARLINGVIEW DRIVE AND THE GEORGETOWN WEST RAIL CORRIDOR

THIS NEW RAILWAY GRADE SEPARATION PROJECT CONSISTED OF:

  • NEW GRADE SEPARATION RIGID FRAME BRIDGE STRUCTURE 

  • OVER 90,000m3 OF EARTHWORKS

  • 1.3km OF RETAINING WALLS

  • 4km OF CONTINUOUS WELDED TRACK UPGRADES TO THE RAIL CORRIDOR

  • 1.5km OF SEWER INCLUDING TWO JACK AND BORE CROSSINGS UNDER THE RIAILWAY 

  • 1km OF DEEP TRUNK STORM SEWER 

  • 600m OF WATERMAIN

  • ALL ROADWORKS INCLUDING LIGHTING AND LANDSCAPING

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Owner

  • Metrolinx/GO

General Contractor

  • Soncin Construction

Scope of Work

  • The scope of work associated with this project included the construction of a 17.6m span concrete structure built in two stages

  • Excavation of 85,000 m3 of earth material off site and an additional 16,000 m3 of earth material placed on site. 

  • To accommodate the proposed rail bed expansion 800m of binwall was constructed along with 700m of RSS wall to support the grade separation. 

  • Upgrade of the rail corridor required widening the track bed to support 4,000m of continuous welded track. 

  • 1,500m of localized storm sewer was installed including two (2) jack and bore crossings under the live rail traffic at 58m x 1.2m dia. each. 

  • 1,000m of deep trunk storm sewer were installed along Carlingview drive which required crossing the intersection of Attwell by micro tunnel with 48m of 900mm storm sewer. 

  • Another crossing of the rail corridor was completed by jack and boring 54m of 600mm Dia. steel casing required to complete the 600m of watermain.

  • Placement of concrete roadbase and curb supports the reconstructed roadways 

  • Installation of street lighting systems for portions of Carlingview Drive, Entrance Road and Woodbine Entertainment and Gambling (WEG) sales pavilion. 

  • Landscaping in the form of trees, shrubs and copious amounts of grass complete the project.

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SPECIFIC CHALLENGES                              

  • At the project start up meeting Soncin was made aware of multiple issues that the Consultant was facing with getting the project off the ground. Property Acquisitions, utility relocates and design changes were just some of the concerns that caused a year long delay from starting the critical path components of the project. Soncin and MMM Group essentially formed a Design/Build team and provided a solution that would accelerate the critical path and still maintain an acceptable project end date prior to the Pan Am games.

  • The Georgetown South (GTS) corridor is utilized by multiple rail operators, GO, VIA and CN, in order to construct the grade separation structure we had to develop a construction strategy, project schedule and communicate it to all the parties involved. The first stage required diversion of the two mainline tracks to the south, once we had completed that task we were able to install the shoring system and begin excavation. The shoring system was still critically close to the mainline rail as we had approximately 600mm of separation Soncin examined the train schedule and determined working at night was the best option due to delays passing trains would cause.

  • A Large amount of the work was completed within Woodbine Entertainment and Gambling (WEG) property which required a start time of 10am for works that would be loud or distract the horses as they train from 6:00am to 10:00am adjacent to Entrance road. Soncin was utilizing some of this property to manufacture and cast the concrete girders and required an earlier start, in order to remove concerns noted by WEG, Soncin erected a large screen that would eliminate any visual distraction and scheduled work that would be a noise concern for after 10:00am.  

  • Due to the amount of projects ongoing in the GTS Soncin was unable to get a Rule 842 as required for completing work for an extended amount of time without positive protection. Soncin had to utilize a small four (4) hour window from 11:30 to 15:30 to complete all work within or under the rail corridor, Soncin was able to organize and manage the work while maintain a working relationship with all of our subs impacted by this constraint until GO was able to adjust and provide a Rule 842 through the limits of our project.

  • Relocation of existing Bell 360 Plant was included in the scope of the project as a Cash Allowance item with no consideration of how it would impact the construction of the grade separation structure. Soncin was able to identify the concern and risk associated with managing the existing utility through the grade separation during excavation and bridge construction. Soncin would support the utility on the shoring wall after it was exposed during excavation and for the duration of construction of the foundation, abutments and placement of deck girders. Soncin would then remove the utility from its casing and place it within split ducts in the trainmen’s walkway prior to concrete placement.   

  • Portions of the grade separation required lowering the roadway out front of two large companies that required ample employee and delivery traffic. Soncin was able to orchestrate the mass excavation and construction of the road way while maintaining access to the two companies by working closely with the consultant, owner and adjacent companies. We were able to develop our strategy, plan and execute the work without impact to our schedule.

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OTHER

Effectively and efficiently managed and controlled the quality: Soncin had implemented a Quality Control / Quality Assurance programme that would allow testing of the required materials on site with the Consultant completing a QA test randomly to assure the QC system was providing the necessary impact. Soncin would ensure compliance with the construction drawings and specification when required and request further information when technical issues would arise. All test results and reports were provided to MMM for clarity and for their records.
 

Effectively and efficiently managed and control the cost/budget: Soncin was able to control the cost/budget by utilizing practices that provided the best value for the task, carefully planning the work so that it could be done in the most efficient way by managing resources. Soncin worked with the consultant and provided cost effective solutions to technical issues that could have become very costly if handled improperly.
 

Effectively and efficiently managed and controlled the key milestones: Through strategic planning and anticipation of impact issues Soncin was able to develop a project schedule that provided the path to meet the milestones. Bi-weekly meetings with our construction team and sub-contractors ensured proper communication of our schedule and set the expectations we required.
 

Managed and resolved the unexpected challenges: When unexpected challenges became known, Soncin would document what the challenges were, what impacts they would have on the localized work and global schedule. The challenge is then relayed to the consultant with a solution we feel is appropriate if so required. With Metrolinx they have an internal entity that communicates with the adjacent property stakeholders. Much like the Bell 360 utility issue noted in key challenges and solutions, Soncin was able to identify the impacts to the excavation schedule and ultimately the completion of Stage 1 for the project.

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