ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[insider]

What is the construction schedule for the winter?  Do they still dig up the ground and put in new pipes?  Do they pour concrete when it's cold?

Thank you.

Just bumping this. I'm also wondering the same thing... what's happening during the winter?

[timio]

If what they did last winter happens again, they'll fill in the holes and put a temporary coat of asphalt on the ground and pick up where they left off in the Spring.

[GtwoK]

^ Sounds like this, considering the remarks they made about paving King St "for the holiday season".

[Canard]

It must be horrible working on projects like this in the winter. I can't imagine how these guys feel at the end of the day. I make sure to thank each construction worker I chat with whenever I'm out and about.

[KevinL]

The view this morning.

[tomh009]

Great photo angle -- top level of the parking garage?

[KevinL]

Great photo angle -- top level of the parking garage?

Yes, as are many other shots earlier in this thread by several users.

[Canard]

Your second picture is hilarious, Kevin, with the grotesque sticking out watching over the construction crew.

I asked the team about timing at Charles/Benton, and they said the intersection would open in early November. That seems impossible though with the amount of work left to do, unless they start pouring concrete by early next week.

[tomh009]

From the Kevin's photos, you can also see that the (temporary) traffic lights have been hung, so clearly they are getting closer to opening this intersection.

[KevinL]

From the Kevin's photos, you can also see that the (temporary) traffic lights have been hung, so clearly they are getting closer to opening this intersection.

Those were hung before the old ones were removed and have been there (under tarps) ever since. I guess they wanted them in place and ready to avoid delay after the surface work is done.

[Canard]

The FLEXITY Freedom LFLRV mockup is in Hamilton until Saturday afternoon and open to the public.

http://www.hamilton.ca/government-inform...-city-hall

[timio]

Latest Ion update is available online.

Some highlights:

Seagram is closing on Monday for 2 weeks to install tracks.
Track is being installed along Caroline - at Alexandra starting Oct 26
King street will be prepped for paving from Green to Wellington starting Oct 29
Charles from Water to Queen is almost ready for paving; only a few watermain connections to be done.
Borden will be fully reconstructed by mid-November

[Canard]

Glad they are finally finishing off the crossing at Seagram! It's very difficult to get into the park lot there right now. Exciting to see the gauntlet track come together with the crossing too since this will be a tricky one.

[Canard]

Track installation has now begun on the "other" side of Courtland, on Borden:

   

   

   

[Canard]

So, something had been bothering me ever since track started going in on Borden. In embedded track systems I've seen elsewhere, it's used Girder/Grooved Rail (see here and here), which had a little "cup" extruded into the flange side of the rail, flush with the top so that when the concrete is poured in, it leaves a nice clear area for the flange of the running wheels. The embedded track we've seen now along the ion route uses regular T-Rail, with other techniques to install a temporary filler strip to keep the concrete out of the flange way.

Someone on Twitter replied to some photos of mine, and gave this as the answer: http://reconnectingamerica.org/news-cent...ca-issues/