Discovery of bones under Queen Street halts some preliminary LRT work
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen September 20, 2013
OTTAWA — Work stopped at a Queen Street construction site Thursday morning when workers found human bones several feet into an excavation.
“What we have found is it is considered to be human remains, but the preliminary report is that it is considered to be from a historical gravesite,” said Carole Lavigne, a spokeswoman for the Ottawa police. Forensic identification specialists from the force were called in to confirm that the objects workers found in a construction pit were bones and that they are the remains of a person.
Workers in safety vests and hard hats, unable to continue, stood around while police guarded the spot east of Metcalfe Street.
They had been digging to replace a water main under Queen, which is an early stage in building the city’s light-rail tunnel in the same area. Other work on the project — such as blasting near LeBreton Flats — continued uninterrupted. According to the city, the water main dates to 1874 and is one of the oldest pipes in Ottawa.
The bones were found above the level of the main, though, about a metre below ground. The workers covered what they found with a sheet of plywood, got out of the pit, and called for help.
The find may require a more extensive archeological examination to ensure there aren’t more bones that will be disturbed by the construction; the city organized a thorough dig at LeBreton Flats and recovered numerous artifacts of early Ottawa before work began there, but what’s under Queen Street hasn’t been studied.
Under the terms of the city’s contract with Rideau Transit Group, which is building the rail tunnel, archeological surprises are one of the few unforeseen possibilities that the city must pay for if they delay work for more than five days.
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