John SchragMay 20

I spent some time this morning watching the construction of the Ontario Line portal on Pape. This is where the new subway line will be switching from above ground to underground. Currently they are building the supporting structures underground before they start digging the actual portal. The process is pretty cool.

First, they dig a very deep hole using a big augur. It has a drill in the middle, and a cylindrical outside that is left in the ground. In this picture you see the augur full of dirt that it dug from the hole. Behind it a cement truck is pouring concrete into the newly-drilled hole.

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Once the hole is filled with wet concrete, the augur is used to lift the steel cylinder out of the hole, leaving the concrete behind.

In the background of the image you can see the giant steel beam waiting to be dropped into the hole.

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May 20 at 6:13pmWeb
Show threadJohn SchragMay 20

A crane suspends the long steel beam over the concrete-filled hole, then lowers it in. It took a bit of up/down wiggling, but it got all the way in.

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