West LRT | 7 Stations | 8.0 KM | In Service

[lubicon]

A couple of notes from my drive home yesterday:

1. Bow Trail has been realigned again. WB lanes now shift over to their new alignment at 26 Street SW. Traffic was a complete gong show last night - backed up along Bow Trail right into the DT core. I hope that is jsut temporary.

2. the truss launcher has moved past the Sunalta station and is now working to the west of the station.

I just wish I could see the pictures being posted on these forums. Our IT dept has seen fit to block most pictures as of a copuple of weeks ago.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by kw5150

Originally Posted by Aegis

What method do they use to shore up those walls?

As a couple others have said, it's shotcrete shoring and it's all we seem to use in Vancouver.

The advantage of the technique is that you shore up the walls as soon as you can excavate and since there is no need for any pile driving it is very useful for tight urban sites. I am not familiar with the pile and wood plank system typically used in Calgary but from my observations in Vancouver the shoring operations seems to be pretty light on the labour front. In addition to the usual excavator and bulldozer teams that would be used no matter what, the shotcrete teams here seem to use between six and a dozen guys and depending on the size of the project multiple teams may be used simultaneously.

As a layman this is the process I have observed. First an excavator will begin clearing away soil in the centre of the site down and work their way over to the limit of the excavation pit. Then they excavate a fairly short section of soil wall and then a couple of guys running a self-propelled pneumatic drilling machine move in to sink and grout a steel anchor rod into the surrounding soil wall with a square end plate at the end. The excavator moves on to do the next section of wall while a small labour gang of half a dozen or so guys put up steel mesh rebar panels (picture something almost identical to those ubiquitous metal rental fences) by hand against the contours of the excavated soil wall. They finish by screwing a second end plate onto the anchor rod, sandwiching the steel mesh in between. Next a couple of guys run the shotcrete pumping machine that flings concrete from a ready-mix truck through a hose against the metal mesh, the bare earth wall behind, and the the anchor plates to create a relatively thick monolithic concrete wall that hugs the contours of the earth and seals in the rebar and anchor reinforcing assembly. Depending on soil conditions the initial excavation stage may require that buttresses of earth are left in an alternating pattern with the excavated sections to help give the earth wall additional support until the anchor, rebar, and shotcrete have been applied.The excavation and shoring process can be executed in quite a contained area and is linear in its progression so on a construction site you will see the whole operation corkscrews itself down to whatever depth is required. After the shotcrete shoring come a layer of impermeable membrane and then the actual building foundation and structural walls with backfilled rock in between.

I'm thrilled to see the West LRT continue apace. I can't wait until it's done. Good on you Calgary.

[Sean.Perrin]

Originally Posted by J-D

Does anybody else find it odd that the WestLRT.ca website is better than Calgarytransit.com itself?

Hah!

The grammar and graphic design work on everything CT releases is brutal.

I especially enjoyed the warning about service being disrupted this weekend. The website reads: "Sunday -> 11am." To me, this means that service is disrupted at 11am, but once you click the link you see that service is disrupted until 11am. What a joke.

[frinkprof]

Here's some pictures from today.

Sirocco Station


Sarcee/17th Interchange


Substation on NW corner of Sarcee Trail and 17th Ave.


Substation at Christie Park Gate and 17th Ave.

[Rise_of_the_West]

I have a qustion about the 17th Ave Overpass. The pilings seem to be quite low for trucks and stuff passing under it on Sarcee. Is Sarcee going to have to "dip" under the overpass?

[mersar]

Originally Posted by Rise_of_the_West

I have a qustion about the 17th Ave Overpass. The pilings seem to be quite low for trucks and stuff passing under it on Sarcee. Is Sarcee going to have to "dip" under the overpass?

I believe that is the case, but not by too much. If I'm remembering it had to do with the maximum heights that Altalink and Enmax were willing to put the electrical towers that run over 17th at that location at, forcing the 17th avenue roadway to be lower then originally planned.

[that_twisted_cm]

Passed by the guideway construction today, and saw the guideway going past Sunalta Station...but I was looking at the pillars past Sunalta, but I can't see how the guideway is going to be able to cross Bow Trail without:

a) a sharp curve, and
b) a bump over Bow Trail to let higher height vehicles pass, and then a sharp drop into the Bow Trail ROW

Anyone can confirm how that will be done? I'm not able to see where the guideway ends on the West side...

[mersar]

Yep, its actually a pretty gentle curve (no where near the maximum turn radius of an LRV). The track will hit grade about 3/4 the way between 10th ave and Crowchild. They are re-aligning lanes on there this week to allow them to start work on the remaining piers they are needed to bring the track to grade. Though I will agree that it doesn't seem like theres that much clearance between Bow Trail east bound and the guideway though, at least right now with the pier only sitting beside there.

[frinkprof]

Picture from today.

Sirocco Station

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by that_twisted_cm

Passed by the guideway construction today, and saw the guideway going past Sunalta Station...but I was looking at the pillars past Sunalta, but I can't see how the guideway is going to be able to cross Bow Trail without:

a) a sharp curve, and
b) a bump over Bow Trail to let higher height vehicles pass, and then a sharp drop into the Bow Trail ROW

Anyone can confirm how that will be done? I'm not able to see where the guideway ends on the West side...

Hey I follow you on twitter!

I had the same questions as I drove eastbound on Bow the other night. It will be interesting to see how it crosses over.

[kw5150]

This Lrt Line is going to change the face of Calgary! What an acheivement! I would almost consider living up near westbrook mall now!

[Innersoul1]

Yeah i am soooooo curious about the clearance above Bow Trail. It looks very low as the pillars are now.

[freeweed]

I have to agree. Driving into downtown on Bow Trail, it's already changing the look completely. I can't wait till we see actual trains on this thing. With that insane elevated station and everything.

This city is unrecognizable compared to 10 years ago. Hell, even 5.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by that_twisted_cm

Passed by the guideway construction today, and saw the guideway going past Sunalta Station...but I was looking at the pillars past Sunalta, but I can't see how the guideway is going to be able to cross Bow Trail without:

a) a sharp curve, and
b) a bump over Bow Trail to let higher height vehicles pass, and then a sharp drop into the Bow Trail ROW

Anyone can confirm how that will be done? I'm not able to see where the guideway ends on the West side...

From the renderings I've seen, the LRT tracks will follow the south edge of CPR mainline west of Sunalta Station, rising to fly over the EB Bow Trail & curving south-west so the LRT tracks are between the EB and WB Bow Trail roadways (and over the 10th Ave / Bow Trail ramps)

With the LRT tracks between the Bow Trail roadway, I thought the LRT tracks levelled out and let Bow Trail naturally rise to meet the LRT tracks. I think Bow Trail also gets moved away from the centre median to make room for placing the LRT tracks on the ground between the Bow Trail EB and WB roadways. The LRT tracks apparently land just before reaching the Crowchild Tr NB flyover, so Bow Trail and the LRT tracks run under Crowchild Tr. From that point to roughly 26 ST W the LRT tracks are on the ground between the EB and WB roadways of Bow Trail - similar to the layout for 36th St NE.


however....
I've also seen a plan where the LRT tracks coming from Sunalta Station fly over the EB Bow Trail bridge to get between the Bow Trail roadways, but the LRT tracks stay elevated and fly over Crowchild Tr too. After getting west of Crowchild Tr the LRT tracks fall (as Bow Trail rises) and around 24th St the LRT tracks are on the ground between the EB and WB Bow Trail roadways.
I think that plan was shot down by Sunalta residents as too intrusive.

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by freeweed

This city is unrecognizable compared to 10 years ago. Hell, even 5.

While there's been a lot of progress, I'm not sure I'd go that far! I still find it comfortably familiar every time I come home for Christmas.

Inner-city is definitely feeling more growned-up though, and that C-train line is only going to help with the awesome.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Innersoul1

Yeah i am soooooo curious about the clearance above Bow Trail. It looks very low as the pillars are now.

As long as the LRT guideway has sufficient clearance for trucks using Bow Trail, there should be no problems.

Here is the SkyTrain Canada Line guideway flying over Grant McConachie Way at the Vancouver Airport: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s...pryXb8JtFiDnyvf_Gfg&cbp=12,26.07,,0,6.49

The pillars may seem low, but the arch of the guideway between the pillars is what gives the clearance over the roadway. I've heard that SNC-Lavalin is using the same gantry system & post-tensioned box-beam trackbed construction they used in Vancouver for the Canada Line.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

As long as the LRT guideway has sufficient clearance for trucks using Bow Trail, there should be no problems.

Here is the SkyTrain Canada Line guideway flying over Grant McConachie Way at the Vancouver Airport: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s...pryXb8JtFiDnyvf_Gfg&cbp=12,26.07,,0,6.49

The pillars may seem low, but the arch of the guideway between the pillars is what gives the clearance over the roadway. I've heard that SNC-Lavalin is using the same gantry system & post-tensioned box-beam trackbed construction they used in Vancouver for the Canada Line.

Of course there will be enough clearance!!! C'mon now!

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I have to agree. Driving into downtown on Bow Trail, it's already changing the look completely. I can't wait till we see actual trains on this thing. With that insane elevated station and everything.

This city is unrecognizable compared to 10 years ago. Hell, even 5.

I am really looking forward to the West Village as well (whenever that is...). I hope they turn 9th ave SW into a 2-way street and clean up all of those weird road connections leading to crowchild.

[that_twisted_cm]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

however....
I've also seen a plan where the LRT tracks coming from Sunalta Station fly over the EB Bow Trail bridge to get between the Bow Trail roadways, but the LRT tracks stay elevated and fly over Crowchild Tr too. After getting west of Crowchild Tr the LRT tracks fall (as Bow Trail rises) and around 24th St the LRT tracks are on the ground between the EB and WB Bow Trail roadways.
I think that plan was shot down by Sunalta residents as too intrusive.

I think THIS was the plan that started the whole BestWestLRT frothing at the mouth in the first place...plus, could you imagine a train stuck at that elevation?

[PPAR]

...is using the same gantry system & post-tensioned box-beam trackbed construction they used in Vancouver for the Canada Line.

...the excavation Shotcrete is used frequently in Vancouver construction.

...tunnel inner forms are the same as those used on the Canada Line.

It seems more and more clear that SNC Lavalin has essentially reconstituted the Vancouver Canada Line team to build the WLRT. Does anybody on the inside know how much of the current project management team was involved in Vancouver?