Ontario Construction News staff writer
Piling work has started at Union Station as part of the Union Station enhancement project.
Piles will form the foundation for the future south concourse that will connect customers Bay and York Streets. Once complete, the concourse will span over 325 metres, about the length of a 12 car GO Train.
The first of over 50 piles were installed in mid-November. They will be constructed by driving a hollow tube into the ground, placing large steel supports into the tube, and filling it with concrete.
Over the past few weeks work included the installation of 14 structural steel supports along the heritage trainshed to reinforce and protect the structure. Platforms 24 and 25 and 26 and 27 were demolished, to make way for new, wider platforms with more room for passengers to efficiently move through or wait for trains.
Through Winter 2023, the existing track slabs that remain from earlier in the project will be demolished, and excavation for the new south concourse will begin.
Once the required depths are reached, crews will begin constructing the concourse concrete slabs, columns, and stairs to access the new platforms.
Two sets of temporary stairs are also under construction – one in the south end of the VIA concourse, which will connect customers to the retail level below, and the other in the east end of the hallway that runs along the south side of the existing concourses, that will connect to the Scotiabank Arena area, just outside the existing entrance to the Bay concourse.