Confederation Line (Stage 1) | In Service 1.0

[kmcamp]

Looks like Hurdman is getting the Tunney's treatment, they seem to be widening the platforms to go behind the shelters. Sadly, the path will not be under the cover provided by the overpass for the train, but at least it's something.

[rocketphish]

Subcontractor goes after RTG for millions in compensation for LRT work

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: November 19, 2019

A subcontractor is taking legal action against LRT builder Rideau Transit Group and the City of Ottawa for what it says is a $4.9-million outstanding payment for its work on the Confederation Line.

It’s one of multiple financial pressures the consortium is facing as the city withholds maintenance contract payments while LRT problems persist, and at least one other company is demanding compensation it claims is past-due.

According to a statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, plaintiff Quest Steel Inc. is looking for at least $4,921,594.86 from the named defendants: OLRT Constructors, Rideau Transit Group and the City of Ottawa.

OLRT Constructors is an RTG component made up of three companies (EllisDon, SNC-Lavalin and Dragados Canada) responsible for the Confederation Line construction. RTG is the larger consortium behind the first phase of LRT in Ottawa.

RTG did not immediately respond to this newspaper’s request for comment.

The City of Ottawa’s deputy solicitor David White said the city does not comment on “matters of litigation that are before the courts.”

Quest Steel’s statement of claim, dated July 29, says the Ontario company was subcontracted to supply and install “elevator shrouds and framing” for nine LRT stations along the Confederation Line.

The total amount of the contract, according to the plaintiff, was $8,968,861.97, tax-in. Quest Steel invoiced OLRT, but its payment remains more than $4.9-million short, according to the statement of claim.

Quest Steel says it “prepared, performed, and completed” all of the work it invoiced OLRT for “in a good and workmanlike manner and in accord with the instructions received” by the consortium. It also says a “certificate of substantial performance” was published by RTG and OLRT on May 15.

Quest Steel is looking for the outstanding $4.9-million, as well as associated interest and costs. That this remains unpaid means the defendants have been “unjustly enriched” and breached their contract with Quest Steel, according to the statement of claim

A statement of defence had not been filed as of Monday. None of the allegations in the claim has been proven in court.

RTG is also facing demands for payment from Ottawa construction firm Tomlinson. CBC reported Monday that the company wrote to OLRT on Nov. 11, and published a copy of the correspondence.

In it, Tomlinson president Kevin Cinq-Mars said more than $11 million is “past due and payable by OLRT to Tomlinson.”

“We trust that OLRT wants to resolve this issue without the unnecessary expense and trouble of legal proceedings.”

Reached on Monday, Tomlinson vice-president of business development Stephanie Tessier said the company would not comment on the letter but confirmed that it was sent.

This isn’t the first time RTG has faced subcontractors’ demanding that it pony up for their work on the $2.1-billion Confederation Line.

HC Matcon filed a statement of claim in June 2017 alleging that it had been shortchanged some $1.5 million by RTG and its partner companies.

This type of litigation is not uncommon when it comes to large-scale infrastructure projects. The Lansdowne Park redevelopment saw several subcontractors launch multimillion-dollar lawsuits demanding payment for their services.

Unexpected work and design changes saw Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and Pomerleau — the owner and prime contractor, respectively — disagree over who would pick up the tab. The impasse meant payment problems for the project’s subcontractors, leading to their lawsuits.

Today, the relationship between the Confederation Line’s owner and main contractor — Ottawa and RTG — is fraught with its own challenges.

The city is supposed to be paying RTG several million for LRT maintenance every month, but it has vowed not to pay until the system is working properly.

This financial hit comes on top of millions of dollars in withheld payments to penalize RTG and compensate the city for costs associated with the project’s delayed completion.

With files from Jon Willing and James Bagnall

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...or-millions-in-compensation-for-lrt-work

[OTownandDown]

Well, you're commenting that it's been 3 months now, so I assumed you were unhappy about the speed of repair.

And also my point is to think about the series of events that need to happen to have repairs of an unknown problem completed. What in that case, when receiving several thousand questions about sewer smell, would you have done differently if you were Manconi that would have turned out better?

For me, I would have done exactly as his office has done (even though to you, it's frustrating).

Manconi's office starts with my mechanical trades: "Hey, guys, what's that smell? Take a look and let me know"
Mechanical Trades: "we found some water in some sump pits, we'll try to pump it out"
Manconi: "The trades tell me its water in a sump pit, they're going to pump it out."
...smell continues
Manconi goes back to the trades and maybe a couple engineers: "Hey guys, the smell is still there."
Experts:"We found a couple more leaks, we're going to try again."
Manconi to media: "We found a couple more leaks, we're going to try again."
..smell continues...

and so it goes, until we find the actual smell.

Its not as though there's a funky smell and so lets blow holes in the completed tunnel walls, remove the elevator, and rip up the street post-haste, and waste hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

Goodness. There seems to be some miscommunication or something going on here. You seem to be talking about something completely different from me. Nowhere in my comment did I say anything about the speed of repair. I wasn't even talking about that.

My comment was about the impulse among certain senior managers and elected officials to deflect at any cost, answering legitimate concerns without regard for the facts by giving a quick and easy and ultimately misleading answer each time this issue has come up in the last three months.

The correct answer that Manconi or Hubley should have been giving would be something along the lines of "we don't know and we're going to get to the bottom of this." One of the reasons I noted in my comment for why I think this is noteworthy is that this seems to not be a one-off. This seems to be their MO on a number of other issues (doors, smell, train issues, etc.).

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

Well, you're commenting that it's been 3 months now, so I assumed you were unhappy about the speed of repair

I'm glad we cleared up that misunderstanding.

If you're ok with being repeatedly fed false information with little regard for due diligence or facts, then that's your prerogative. Personally I prefer more diligence with making true statements, especially when it relates to a multi-billion dollar endeavour.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

I'm glad we cleared up that misunderstanding.

If you're ok with being repeatedly fed false information with little regard for due diligence or facts, then that's your prerogative. Personally I prefer more diligence with making true statements, especially when it relates to a multi-billion dollar endeavour.

That's a little harsh. I tend to side with OTownandDown on this one. The cause of smells can be hard to track down, especially in a tunnel bored through bedrock.

That is not to say that there aren't other issues that have been handled poorly.

[OTownandDown]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

I'm glad we cleared up that misunderstanding.

If you're ok with being repeatedly fed false information with little regard for due diligence or facts, then that's your prerogative. Personally I prefer more diligence with making true statements, especially when it relates to a multi-billion dollar endeavour.

Even for the rest of the 'false information' you're talking about, people like Chianello have been chomping at the bit for MONTHS and frankly insulting the professionals who are working their assess off on this project.

So when you get down to it, the City calls a 'meeting' which is a glorified news conference, in order to drag the professionals for files they're working on, and insist on an answer for the ignorant public to bathe themselves in self-importance.

So what is he supposed to say when asked about any of these questions. "I don't know at this time, we're working on it" wasn't a valid answer. So quick, make something up so that these people will go away and we can get back to work, at least for a couple weeks. Because the truth of the matter on most of these issues is that there's literally thousands of people working on it, and there's NO answer that will appease anyone, especially 'I don't know'.

But you know what (and this will surely piss you off)... 'I don't know' is often a valid answer, but nobody is willing to put their faith in the professions anymore, because we're a society of instant gratification.

[OTownandDown]

To be clear, I'm not involved in the construction industry at all, I'm just sick and tired of the martyr syndrome of Ottawan's thinking they're second rate, and by extension blaming people who are trying to make the City better, when really the City is great and if you tried to enjoy it and stopped complaining, you'd see we live in an amazingly excellent city. Now I've gone off the deep end, I know, but there it is. There's problems, yes, but it's a work in progress. There have been WAY worse roll outs of mass transit systems in the past in other cities.

[Kitchissippi]

I've installed quite a few toilets while renovating, and the smell at Parliament Station is the unmistakable smell of sanitary sewer outgassing. I never really bought the excuse of the sump pump as no way mere standing water could produce that odour. I have a feeling the digging has probably compromised the sewers on Queen and/or O'Connor, and and we might see a huge disruption if they have to rip up the street.

I have this funny nightmare scenario of someone pressing the mysterious "M" button on the Parliament station elevator and then suddenly the door to that level opens to let in an epic deluge of sewage sludge

The other farm-like horse manure smell that people complain about is probably due to poorly-cured resin on some of the interior fibreglass panels on certain trains. I'm surprised they haven't offered that explanation.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I've installed quite a few toilets while renovating, and the smell at Parliament Station is the unmistakable smell of sanitary sewer outgassing. I never really bought the excuse of the sump pump as no way mere standing water could produce that odour. I have a feeling the digging has probably compromised the sewers on Queen and/or O'Connor, and and we might see a huge disruption if they have to rip up the street.

I have this funny nightmare scenario of someone pressing the mysterious "M" button on the Parliament station elevator and then suddenly the door to that level opens to let in an epic deluge of sewage sludge

The other farm-like horse manure smell that people complain about is probably due to poorly-cured resin on some of the interior fibreglass panels on certain trains. I'm surprised they haven't offered that explanation.

Possibly, or they could just be old and leaky, and until the tunnel opened, no one really cared what it smelled like deep underground.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I've installed quite a few toilets while renovating, and the smell at Parliament Station is the unmistakable smell of sanitary sewer outgassing.

The Parliament Reek has the weird side-effect of olfactory-triggered memories, in this case of my grandparents () but sadly because it reminds my reptilian brain of the time their septic tank went kablooey.

So yeah: totally rotting-poo-gas smell.

[rocketphish]

'Negligence' and 'breach of contract': Two more LRT subcontractors pursue $18M from RTG

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: November 19, 2019

Two subcontractors are alleging that project delays and negligence on the part of LRT-builder Rideau Transit Group’s construction component led to skyrocketing costs for their own work on the Confederation Line — and they’re taking legal action to pursue more than $18 million they feel they’re owed.

C&M Electric Ltd. and Ziebarth Electrical Contractors Ltd. have both filed statements of claim demanding $5.5 million and $12.7 million, respectively.

The firms — both Ottawa electrical contractors — have the same lawyer, and their lawsuits are virtually identical in many sections.

According to a statement of claim dated May 16, C&M Electric is looking for payment for two contracts: supplying and installing electrical work at Bayview Station, and doing the same for Lees and uOttawa stations. It entered into both of these contracts with OLRT Constructors — the construction component of RTG — in 2016.

In both cases “through no fault of C&M Electric, its work was delayed immediately, significantly and repeatedly,” the statement of claim reads.

As a result, C&M wasn’t able to complete its work by the agreed-upon dates and construction schedules on both contracts were extended more than 50 weeks. C&M continued its work on the Confederation Line stations into 2019 when it was supposed to have been done by the end of 2017.

“As a result of the extensive delays which were not caused or contributed by the plaintiff, C&M incurred additional labour, material and other costs in order to complete the supply and installation of the electrical work” — costs the company believes it’s entitled to recover, according to the statement of claim.

It alleges that the Confederation Line project as a whole, including the plaintiff’s work sites, was plagued by delays, including sites not being ready for C&M’s work, OLRT’s failing to manage and co-ordinate the work of its agents and employees, and failing to make necessary decisions on design changes in a timely fashion.

It alleges “necessary and important” site decisions were delivered late, as were approvals of shop drawings, responses to information requests, change orders, and site instructions. It also alleges that “excessive” change orders were issued and payments were late.

These delays and site problems saw C&M Electric suffer “significant and continual” work disruptions, loss of construction crew productivity, project schedule disruptions, and additional site supervision, project management and labour.

The result of all this was “significant costs and damages” incurred by C&M Electric. These resulted from what the statement of claim describes as OLRT’s “negligence” and/or “breach of contract” — constituted by what the statement of claim describes as OLRT’s failures on several fronts.

These included failing to “properly coordinate” the work of its subcontractors, failing to “designate and/or keep a competent superintendent and/or project manager on site during the project until completion of the work,” failing to “act in an organized manner,” failing to “properly schedule the project and manage the trades” and failing to “reasonably foresee, anticipate or take into account certain complications or obstacles that could reasonable arise throughout the duration of the project.”

C&M Electric says it completed its work “in a good, workmanlike and timely manner,” and despite “numerous requests for payment” a total of $5,476,738.05 remains “due and payable.”

The statement of claim filed on behalf of Ziebarth Electrical Contractors alleges the same project delays, breaches of contract and negligence outlined in C&M Electric’s legal action.

Ziebarth’s work on the Confederation Line was more extensive: it supplied and installed electrical work for Lyon, Blair, Cyrville, Hurdman, Tremblay, Pimisi and Tunney’s Pasture stations. The construction schedules on the various sites saw extensions of between 74 and 120 weeks. The company also worked on a maintenance and storage complex.

For all of this work, $12,690,486.20 “remains due and payable.”

Statements of defence had not been filed in either litigation as of Tuesday. Both statements of claim name the City of Ottawa, RTG, and OLRT as defendants, but notices filed last month discontinued the legal action against the city and RTG — leaving OLRT as a named defendant.

In a July 29 statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Quest Steel Inc. is looking for at least $4,921,594.86 from OLRT Constructors, RTG and the City of Ottawa. The total amount of Quest’s contract, according to its statement of claim, was $8,968,861.97, tax-in. Quest says it invoiced OLRT but its payment remains more than $4.9-million short.

None of the claims has been tested in court.

And RTG is also facing demands for payment from Ottawa construction firm Tomlinson. CBC reported Monday that the company wrote to OLRT on Nov. 11, and published a copy of the correspondence in which Tomlinson president Kevin Cinq-Mars said more than $11 million is “past due and payable by OLRT to Tomlinson.”

The consortium did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. City Solicitor David White said the City of Ottawa doesn’t comment on matters of litigation that are before the courts.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...e-lrt-subcontractors-pursue-18m-from-rtg

[rocketphish]

Rocky LRT launch left off auditor general's draft list of investigations, but transit chair open to idea

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: November 19, 2019

Where did the city go wrong in launching LRT and changing the bus network?

As of Monday, it wasn’t a topic the auditor general was planning to touch in 2020.

Nothing about the rocky launch of the city’s $2.1-billion LRT system and major changes to the bus network are part of the auditor general’s draft work plan.

Coun. Allan Hubley, who’s the chair of the transit commission and a member of the audit committee, said he would support an audit of LRT, but he would want to know what would have to drop off the auditor general’s to-do list, how much the audit would cost and if the auditor general thinks the audit would be worthwhile.

For Hubley, one thing is for certain in the short term: the city needs to preserve the records of all decision-making activities related to the transit transition.

“We should be making darn sure documentation isn’t being misplaced or anything,” Hubley said Monday.

Hubley chaired the audit committee in the last term of council, so he knows the kinds of resources the auditor general might need to take on a large review.

The city is under pressure to improve the transit network as the LRT line continues to be unreliable and the bus system isn’t providing the service expected of customers.

When it comes to the transit headaches, Hubley said it might take more resources for the auditor general to complete a proper review of the transit changes this year.

“We may have to transfer funds to him to do a better dive into all this because there seems to be a lot of questions,” Hubley said.

The proposed audit work plan for 2020 will be up for approval by the audit committee on Nov. 26.

Currently, there are seven audits being proposed by the auditor general, including one related to OC Transpo and the agency’s revenue.

Ottawa Community Housing is also poised to come under the auditor general’s microscope in 2020, along with grants and contributions, information technology assets, the Precise ParkLink contract, the city’s payment card system and travel and hospitality.

In deciding which areas of the municipal government should be audited each year, the auditor general meets with council members and bureaucrats, reviews fraud and waste hotline tips, considers areas of risk and looks into what other municipalities are auditing.

There’s still time to get another transit-related audit on the auditor general’s work plan.

Auditor general Ken Hughes said a work plan isn’t complete until he presents the proposal to the audit committee. Discussions with council members and staff happen over the summer and fall as a work-plan-in-progress takes shape.

Hughes pointed to the Stage 2 O-Train procurement process being added to his 2019 work plan just before the plan went to the audit committee. The release of the Stage 2 procurement audit is expected on Nov. 26 as part of the auditor general’s annual report.

“We will continue to monitor the environment and circumstances and will always consider adding more important relevant issues to our plan,” Hughes said.

Coun. Jean Cloutier, the current chair of the audit committee, said the auditor general develops the work plan and can alter the work plan for the entire year.

“The auditor general will receive input from the committee, we’ll receive input from the community,” Cloutier said, noting that the bus-to-LRT transition has been the topic of one previous audit.

As for reviewing the LRT transition again, Cloutier, who’s also the vice chair of the transit commission, said, “I will leave that to the good office of the auditor general to determine what he chooses to put on the work plan.”

The auditor general presented an audit of LRT “planning and change management” a few years ago. He released an interim report in December 2016 before releasing the full report in June 2017.

The audit’s purpose was to examine “the operational plans, risk and change management processes for the city’s transition from operating a primarily bus system to operating a combined bus and rail network.”

According to that audit, it was intended “to give city council assurance that these processes and structures are in place and working effectively to achieve a successful transition in 2018.”

Of course, the auditor general and city council didn’t know in mid-2017 that the LRT system would be delivered more than a year late. LRT opened on Sept. 14, 2019.

The glowing audit was something to celebrate at city hall as Transpo planned the major transit overhaul. Hubley at the time gave the audit a rare “gold star” after the review didn’t identify any major risks or gaps in planning.

Coun. Theresa Kavanagh, another audit committee member, said she discussed potential audits with the auditor general, but that was before the transit problems grew over the fall.

“I don’t think it would hurt,” Kavanagh said of the potential for auditing the transit change this year.

Coun. Carol Anne Meehan, the vice chair of the audit committee, said the LRT transition “should absolutely be on” the audit work plan.

The audit committee on Nov. 26 will recommend a work plan for council’s approval on Dec. 11.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...tigations-but-transit-chair-open-to-idea

[Kitchissippi]

Just left Parliament station a few minutes ago and there a sewer sucking truck with a long hose down the stairwell

[TransitZilla]

I was on a train going through Parliament this evening close to 7pm. When the doors opened I tried hard to pick up the smell but i didn’t get anything. Is it improving? Or does it come and go?

Not to jinx anything but the Confederation Line seems to have had a pretty solid week? Hopefully things are stabilizing.

[daud]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

I was on a train going through Parliament this evening close to 7pm. When the doors opened I tried hard to pick up the smell but i didn’t get anything. Is it improving? Or does it come and go?

Not to jinx anything but the Confederation Line seems to have had a pretty solid week? Hopefully things are stabilizing.

There seems to be a correlation behind peak load sizes and performance. When they have buses to take some of the volume things seem to run smooth. When we go all in on the train everything falls apart.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by daud

There seems to be a correlation behind peak load sizes and performance. When they have buses to take some of the volume things seem to run smooth. When we go all in on the train everything falls apart.

Which makes me think more and more the problem really is with people frigging with the doors.

[OTownandDown]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Which makes me think more and more the problem really is with people frigging with the doors.

lol, that's such a canadianism, we should definitely have a sign on the door "Don't frig with the doors, frig"

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

But you know what (and this will surely piss you off)... 'I don't know' is often a valid answer, but nobody is willing to put their faith in the professions anymore, because we're a society of instant gratification.

I honestly don't know if you've been reading what I've been saying. "I don't know" is the valid and correct answer I was suggesting Manconi should have been giving all along. Go back and look through his public statements and testimony before council. It's also precisely the answer he hasn't been giving.

His habit seems to be to give the quick and easy answer and pretend at every step of the way like it's the definitive answer. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the quick and easy answer each time seems to be the one that both minimizes issues and deflects blame.

We saw this with the smell in Parliament (it's just some moisture build up rather than saying "I don't know"). We saw this with accepting delivery of the 13 trains versus 15 trains ("we don't need them", "not enough demand", "we're not at capacity yet"). We saw this with the doors too (placing the blame on door holders). In each instance he gave one answer in his testimonies to council or in statements to media and in each instance those first answers minimizing the problem or deflecting blame turned out to not be accurate statements.

The city council is the board of directors of the corporation of the city of Ottawa. People are usually fired for repeatedly giving inaccurate information to their boards, even if inadvertently. I'm wondering why those standards don't apply to him.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

I was on a train going through Parliament this evening close to 7pm. When the doors opened I tried hard to pick up the smell but i didn’t get anything. Is it improving? Or does it come and go?

Not to jinx anything but the Confederation Line seems to have had a pretty solid week? Hopefully things are stabilizing.

You spoke too soon. The C-Line was closed from 6:10 to 6:35 am this morning from Tunney's to Hurdman according to CBC News. I was also hopeful this week.

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

To be clear, I'm not involved in the construction industry at all, I'm just sick and tired of the martyr syndrome of Ottawan's thinking they're second rate, and by extension blaming people who are trying to make the City better, when really the City is great and if you tried to enjoy it and stopped complaining, you'd see we live in an amazingly excellent city. Now I've gone off the deep end, I know, but there it is. There's problems, yes, but it's a work in progress. There have been WAY worse roll outs of mass transit systems in the past in other cities.

For what it's worth, I'm totally in agreement with you about this city being great. I chose to live in this city, I love it and I appreciate the fact that there are people who are trying to make it better.

I think you think I'm trying to tear down people who are trying to make the city better. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I totally agree with you that it's a work in progress and I'm sure the confederation line will end up being a major asset for our city in the long run.

I just happen to believe that the fact that a person is working on an important or large-scale file isn't grounds for them being above scrutiny. I also believe that one part of the "work in progress" and continual improvement involves public accountability and it's not because I'm a mean person or because I hate professionals or people who are trying to make the city better.