Eastern Construction's Dean Walker, project manager, and Sean Ingram, Faculty of Law senior development officer, by the Hoskin Street site access area which will open for deliveries.
A $53-million construction site surrounded by trees, traffic and a heritage building, in one of the busiest downtown quadrants in Canada’s largest city, is not without its problems.
“Every project has its unique challenges,” says Dean Walker, Eastern Construction’s project manager for the Faculty of Law, “and this one ranks right up there.”
A green field construction project would be ideal, but those are rare in an urban location these days, says Walker. “It means this project will involve a very coordinated effort, with lots of preplanning and reviews. All work will be carefully reviewed before it commences, particularly near the protected trees and near the north end, near the heritage site. We’re trying to stay away from it.”
Walker assures me that vibration monitoring is set to be installed at the end of the month prior to any major structural demolition. This will mitigate any impact on the foundation and other heritage elements of Flavelle House. Currently, most of the noise you hear from inside of Flavelle is from the removal of drywall bulkheads, column surrounds and interior partitions.
Site access area looking south through the Bennett Gates towards Hoskin Avenue.
Eastern has worked on several University of Toronto projects, so its familiarity with traffic and pedestrian patterns will be helpful, adds Walker. But the actual site space at the Faculty of Law is pretty constricted, which means planning for material deliveries and installments, and equipment arrivals and departures must be fine-tuned well in advance.
“The challenges are quite high, considering the access reviews. It’s a tight site, and there’s not much lay-down space, which means materials need to be installed on time. Nor is there a lot of room to park vehicles. So we can’t park trucks up the street from the site overnight,” Walker explains. And he says Eastern is committed to a neat and tidy site. “There’s no backyard to hide or store equipment and materials. We have eyes on us from all sides.”
This area is slated for equipment usage and material drop-offs.The large tree-protection zones on either side guard the root structures of the oak trees.
The construction project has to work around the four oak trees that will be preserved and protected with larger-than-normal protection zones, to ensure no damage is inflicted on the root structure. But roots are not the only parts of the tree that need to be guarded. “We also need to consider the tree canopy,” says Walker, “to allow room for a crane to hoist materials.”
As for deliveries, noise bylaws will be respected which means no deliveries before 7 am or after 3 pm. And traffic-control people will be posted at the Hoskin Street entrance for safety.
While easy access to public transit makes it easy for some crew to arrive, those who drive usually have arrangements with their company. “Most subcontractors bus crew in from a prearranged location,” says Walker, to ease up on the congestion.
Site access area looking north from Hoskin Avenue.
The challenges are by no means frustrating for the Eastern crew. “It’s the challenges and site differences that keep bringing me back,” says Walker with a big smile. “It makes every project enjoyable. Everything you learn on one project you take to your next project.”
