Boring machine rescue nearly triples in price, according to new city report
CBC
The cost to rescue a multi-million dollar boring machine trapped beneath a west end street has nearly tripled in just months, with city staff saying the work to unearth the device is more complicated than first anticipated.
The updated cost estimates and timeline come to Toronto's General Government committee next week. Documents show work to free a micro-tunnelling boring machine trapped under Old Mill Drive since last spring has jumped to $25 million — up from the approximately $9 million price tag in March.
City staff say additional groundwater infiltration at the site and the need for more soil stabilization have contributed to the soaring price and delayed the project. The machine remains trapped and work has taken about six months longer than first anticipated.
The latest delay isn't sitting well with residents who say they've struggled with a steady stream of heavy-equipment, dirt and vibrations from construction for years. The price escalation is the latest unpleasant surprise, said Tanya Boswick who lives on the street.
"I think every taxpayer in this city should be furious about the amount of money being spent on this project," she said. "There are lots of other communities and causes and needs that our city has to contend with."
Boswick said the community has been dealing with dust, noise and a constant flow of construction vehicles now for years. They want the project done, she said.
"It's really just the constant noise, constant vibration," she said. "And not to mention all the dust and dirt that's going around on top of the poor air quality. It has made this summer truly a nightmare for the people in this community."
Iain Downie lives in a condominium building next to the job site. His apartment looks out over the work.
"We can't sit outside on our balconies," he said. "We're cleaning everything constantly because of the dust. We're changing indoor air filters regularly because it's just coming right in."
"And we're just having to hear everyone in the neighbourhood be really miserable, that's really not fun."
The work to dig a new storm sewer on Old Mill Drive began in March 2022. The project was designed to address chronic basement flooding in the area. City staff opted to use a remote controlled micro-tunnelling boring machine, which is 1.5 metres wide and five metres long to create the new sewer tunnel.
The plan was for the machine to be placed 18 metres below ground and have it travel 282 metres to a pre-constructed exit shaft on Bloor Street West. Workers needed to place it deep underground to avoid coming into contact with the nearby Bloor-Danforth subway line.
But with just seven metres left to go on its route, the machine hit 14 underground steel tiebacks which had been part of the construction of a nearby condo building. It became ensnared in them, and is now twisted and turned off course.
The initial work to dig the new sewer tunnel was budgeted at $7.2 million. In March, the city signed off on a sole-source deal to extract the machine for an estimated $9 million.
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