Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[McC]

Originally Posted by McC

They've now laid some of this track from about the Bayview bus platforms to at least east of Preston St.

and today they were welding those rails (stinky, fumey work).

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by McC

and today they were welding those rails (stinky, fumey work).

What welding technology are they using? I would have thought they would have used flash butt welding, but I wouldn't think that would be all that stinky or fumy (no chemicals, only electricity melting the rail at the joint). Sounds more like they are using exothermic welding, which I would have thought would more likely be used for repairs than new construction.

[lrt's friend]

They announced today that the electricity is being turned on at the Belfast Yards and that it will gradually be turned on between Tremblay and Blair stations this fall. Testing of trains is about to commence!

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by roger1818

What welding technology are they using? I would have thought they would have used flash butt welding, but I wouldn't think that would be all that stinky or fumy (no chemicals, only electricity melting the rail at the joint). Sounds more like they are using exothermic welding, which I would have thought would more likely be used for repairs than new construction.

The process seemed to have a number of steps:
1. Excavator with lifting beam takes track off pile and places it on rollers
2. Workers drill holes and bolt rails together
3. Rails roll down to flash butt welding truck
4. Swingloader drags the completed string of rail down towards Preston

I'm not sure why they were bolting some of the track pieces, and they might not have been doing all of them, but there was an apparatus setup before the welder and workers there were definitely bolting the track together.

The new Trillium Line sidings were welded with thermite, which was a cool process to watch. I guess it would be uneconomical to use a flash butt truck for a project that size.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Catenary

I'm not sure why they were bolting some of the track pieces, and they might not have been doing all of them, but there was an apparatus setup before the welder and workers there were definitely bolting the track together.

That is strange. I've never heard of them both bolting and welding.

The new Trillium Line sidings were welded with thermite, which was a cool process to watch. I guess it would be uneconomical to use a flash butt truck for a project that size.

Exactly. Thermite is cheaper and easier for small projects (and I don't think you can flash butt a splice), but flash butt welding is the way to go for large projects.

[capital_urbanite]

Latest (final?) renderings and more photos have been posted to the "Galleries" on confederationline.ca for Bayview, Lyon and Parliament.

Seems to be some new branding being shown on the Parliament East Entrance render with a "half-O" motif.

[Kitchissippi]

They should use the other half instead, which is a "C" for Confederaton Line

[Guideway]

Here is the link for those curious about the Live wires at the MSF : http://ottawa.ca/en/ott-city-online/o-train-confederation-line-overhead-wires-are-live

[rocketphish]

Construction Update
Week of September 19

Final demolition and removals are being completed at Tunney’s Pasture Station and crews begin preliminary station foundation work. In the east, Cyrville Station progress is visible with crews hard at work building the station concourse and roof. On the eastern portion of the guideway, systems and cabling installation continue between Tremblay and Blair stations in preparation for vehicle testing this fall.

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Forming walls at Pimisi Station

West Stations

Tunney’s Pasture Station: Crews complete removals and begin station foundation work, including rebar installations for footings.

Bayview Station: Work on the ancillary building, station foundation work, including caisson installation, and ground improvement activities are ongoing. Realignment of the north-south pedestrian and cycling Multi-Use Pathway continues.

Pimisi Station: Construction of the stations walls and footings progress. Crews also install mechanical and electric, and mobilize to being preliminary work on the station’s platform.

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Waterproofing arch-Parliament Station

Central Stations

West Portal: Crews install reinforcements in preparation for the next phase of guideway works.

Lyon Station cavern: Crews install rebar and pour concrete on the station’s concourse. Arch final lining work continues.

Lyon Station west entrance: Crews continue pouring floor slabs and slabs for the escalators and stairs, in addition to forming and installing rebar for the entrance walls. Mechanical and electrical works also occur.

Lyon Station east entrance: Crews continue installing rebar and pouring concrete as part of work on the station walls. Outside, crews install formwork for the station entrance and remove rock at the east vent shaft.

Parliament Station cavern: Work on the station L-walls is ongoing; crews install rebar, continue mechanical and electrical works, and pour concrete. Waterproofing of the arch continues

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Parliament Station west entrance rock removals

Parliament Station west entrance: Crews install falsework on the parking level. At the station entrance, rock removals and line drilling take place. At the east vent shaft, crews finalize rock removals.

Traffic restrictions on Queen and O’Connor streets remain in effect.

Rideau Station cavern: Crews waterproof, install rebar and pour concrete as part of work on the station
L-walls.

Rideau Station west entrance: Crews waterproof, install rebar and formwork for the station walls and also remove existing shoring. Drilling activities and overnight jet grouting continue.

Rideau Station east entrance: Crews install formwork and rebar in preparation of concrete pours of the station’s exterior walls.

East Portal: Crews excavate the ramp and begin reinforcements in preparation for future guideway work.

Traffic restrictions on Rideau Street remain in effect.

uOttawa Station: Work continues on the station suspended slab and walls; crews install rebar in anticipation of concrete pours.

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Installing mitigation membrane-Lees Station

East Stations

Lees Station: Crews continue installing the gas mitigation membrane and install rebar and formwork for the raft slab.

Hurdman Station: At the station, crews work on the station walls, install conduits, pour the concourse floor slabs and continue masonry on the block wall. Work continues on the bus operators’ building, including waterproofing and installing the roof.

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Installing structural steel-Tremblay Station

Tremblay Station: Crews continue installing structural steel in sections, work on the parapets and canopy footings. Track work activities are ongoing at the station.

St-Laurent Station: Crews complete masonry, work on the station elevators and install structural steel for the plenum. Work on the hydro room and electrical installations occur. Track work activities are ongoing at the station.

Cyrville Station: Concourse level construction continues with rebar installation, formwork and concrete pours. Crews begin framing the station’s roof, work on parapets and finalize steel installations.

Blair Station: Crews construct the station roof and begin pours, work on the soffit and continue electrical and mechanical installations. Crews also mobilize to begin landscaping activities at the station.

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Running tunnel reinforcements

Tunnel Excavation and Support

Excavation and installation of reinforcements occur in the running tunnel.

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Welding-guideway looking east to West Portal

Tunney’s Pasture Station to West Portal: Work occurs on the traction power sub station foundation near Tunney’s Pasture Station, including waterproofing. From Bayview Station to West Portal, crews excavate, install the Overhead Catenary System during the day and overnight and continue flash butt welding.

Mann Avenue Bridge to west of Lees Station: Duct bank, ballast and fence installations continue as part of track work.

Rideau River Transitway Bridge to Blair Station: Ballast installation, pulling rail and welding are ongoing between Rideau River Transitway Bridge and Tremblay Station. In preparation for vehicle testing, crews install systems and cabling between Tremblay and Blair stations.

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CPR Bridge pouring pier caps

Other Activities

CPR Bridge near Bayview Station: Bridge reconstruction is ongoing; crews work on the pier caps, abutments and mobilize to begin installing girders.

Mann Avenue Bridge: Crews install caissons and work on pier caps during the day time and overnight as required.

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Upcoming Construction Activities

In the coming weeks, the following construction activities are scheduled to occur:

• Tunney’s Pasture Station work requiring right turn lane restriction.
• Installation of girders on the CPR Bridge.
• Blasting at Parliament Station east entrance.
• Weekend demolition of the Mann Avenue Bridge and ongoing full closure of the roadway.
• Vehicle testing and Overhead Catenary System will be energized in phases along the guideway between Belfast Yard and Blair Station.
• Traction power sub station installations along the alignment.

http://www.ligneconfederationline.ca/news/construction-update-91/

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by roger1818

That is strange. I've never heard of them both bolting and welding.

The Trillium line sidings were bolted, unbolted and then welded. When you're crawling along the siding you can sometimes see the four holes with the weld in between.

I really wasn't sure what was going on. The rail that was piled up didn't have bolt holes, and it would be a ridiculous process to drill them in each piece, but there were definitely workers bolting the string when I went by. They had some sort of gas powered device up above the rail at an angle, if it were on the downstream side of the welder I would have guessed it was a grinder.

[Richard Eade]

Look carefully at the picture provided of the welded rail (in the preceding Update post) and I don’t think that you will see any bolt holes.

A new rail gets moved from the pile into place at the end of the track. The ends of both the track and the new rail are ground to ensure that they are clean and flat. Butt welding requires there to be no contamination and full surface contact. This is what is happening at the joint of the new rail to the track. Then there is a clamp added between the new rail and the track so that when the track is moved ahead, the new rail moves too. Remember, the track is being pulled so the new rail must be attached to that track in some way for it to also move.

The now clean and ‘square’ joint is pulled to the welding station. The clamp is removed and the butt welder flash-welds the new rail onto the end of the track. From there that joint is moved to the next station where it is ground to remove rough edges before moving on to the next station where the weld is inspected and cleaned up as needed. A final inspection is done at the joint’s next stop.

The Trillium Line is different since, I believe, the existing (originally bolted) rails were reused and just welded together. The rails for the Confederation Line were bought with the idea that they were going to be welded, so they didn’t come with bolt holes. I expect that some areas of higher wear (like at switches) will be bolted on the Confederation Line.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by capital_urbanite

Latest (final?) renderings and more photos have been posted to the "Galleries" on confederationline.ca for Bayview, Lyon and Parliament.

Seems to be some new branding being shown on the Parliament East Entrance render with a "half-O" motif.

That looks like a food truck.

Seriously?

[McC]

Ahhhh, so that explains why it's a monorail looking from east from the MUP at Bayview, thanks!

[Richard Eade]

So when the Mayor announced, back in May, 2015, that ALL downtown LRT station accesses were now integrated into buildings, he was wrong?

Watson told reporters that the agreement “solves two problems.” First, integrating the stations into buildings means passengers will “be able to travel underground and not deal with the elements that the Ottawa weather sends up.” And secondly, the Lyon and Parliament station entrances were going to “take up quite a lot of sidewalk space” on Queen Street.

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/lrt-construction-on-time-on-budget-mayor-says

“We’re very excited about taking away some of clutter from the sidewalks and blending them in and integrating them into existing buildings,” said Watson, also noting commuters will also be able to travel without having to face the snow and rain.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2015...-stations-will-blend-into-buildings.html

“We always wanted to have them connected with buildings,” says Watson. “First for the convenience of passengers, to be able to travel as much underground and not to deal with the elements that the Ottawa weather sends us. And secondly, when you saw some of the slides, it was going to take up a lot of sidewalk space.”

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/underground-lrt-stations-will-now-be-integrated-with-buildings-1.2370787

It appears that there is still one entrance taking up a large amount of sidewalk space at Queen and Metcalfe. Or has it been added since the Mayor’s statement because they finally realize that there will be HUGE numbers of people using the Parliament Station during peak periods?

(Or maybe it really is just a food truck and OC Transpo is trying out new revenue possibilities.)

[acottawa]

I wonder if that is an emergency exit or ventilation fan and the artist got confused? It would seem like an impractical place to put an entrance since there is already one immediately across the street in the heritage building and another one on the same block in the sun life building.

In earlier planning when there was a street entrance it was on the other side of o'connor, beside WEP.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by McC

Ahhhh, so that explains why it's a monorail looking from east from the MUP at Bayview, thanks!

Aren't they scared the tracks might bend?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

So when the Mayor announced, back in May, 2015, that ALL downtown LRT station accesses were now integrated into buildings, he was wrong?

It's pretty obvious from messes like on Elgin Street, or the fiasco with sidewalk snow-clearing last winter, that Mr. Mayor doesn't have much of a principled stand on cluttered sidewalks.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Aren't they scared the tracks might bend?

Not on your life, my Hindu friend.

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Not on your life, my Hindu friend.

What about us brain dead slobs?

Great. Now I've got the monorail song stuck in my head. Welp, there goes my productivity for the next little bit.

[capital_urbanite]

I don't know for sure but I believe this is the elevator entrance.

There is reference to a South side elevator in the original documents (page 17)
http://www.ligneconfederationline.ca/media/pdf/Document1_TechnicalOverview_06Jul2011.pdf

As well the architectural plans show two elevator shafts ending at the concourse level (http://morguardlrtupdates.com/PDF/qs/150525_DE_EE_Layout_R1.pdf). I think the elevators to the North and South platforms are cutoff in these plans and are to the right within the "Fare paid" zone.

There is also allusion to two elevator shafts in the Queen Street Renewal drawings.

Originally Posted by acottawa

I wonder if that is an emergency exit or ventilation fan and the artist got confused? It would seem like an impractical place to put an entrance since there is already one immediately across the street in the heritage building and another one on the same block in the sun life building.

In earlier planning when there was a street entrance it was on the other side of o'connor, beside WEP.