ventilation ducts, while also being tall enough to hoist the
piles being installed.
Working from a drill platform below street level poses
its own challenges. A good functional access ramp for concrete
and material deliveries is crucial. Conversely, a ramp
also consumes valuable real estate, reducing the actual work
area and storage space on the jobsite. All the while, access for
dump trucks and equipment to the Massey Tower side of the
project had to be maintained through the Massey Hall site,
now with the temporary bridge overhead acting as the emergency
egress route for EWG.
Due to the tight work area, semi-trailers delivering piles
would have to sit on the access ramp while being offloaded
by a mobile crane. Structural piles were prefabricated with
nelson studs welded to both sides of the web. This required
additional care when offloading, stacking and handling of
these piles to prevent damage. deep had to schedule and
coordinate a precise lift plan that had to be communicated
Eighty per cent of the piles on the
project had to be drilled with the
mast of the drill rig within inches
of historic buildings.
and carried out by their crew to ensure safe access for the
crane and deliveries, and execution of the rigging, hand signals,
tagline control and laydown of the piles.
A series of interior caissons of various diameters had to
be drilled from this lower elevation, as well. Most steel reinforcing
cages were tied onsite in a designated area provided
on the Massey Tower site. However, some of the reinforcing
cages were too large to be fabricated onsite and had to be
delivered individually and coordinated to arrive just before
drilling of the respective caisson holes. A well-planned
sequence of work had to be followed to ensure the correct
steel piles and reinforcing cages were delivered on time and
ready when required.
Summary
Both the Massey Hall and Massey Tower shoring, excavation
and caisson foundation works were completed successfully
and ahead of schedule. Even with the complicated site configurations
and challenging drill sequences, deep’s drilling
and piling operations sustained no damage to any of the
historical structures surrounding the sites. In addition, the
movements of the shoring system were measured and maintained
within the given design tolerances, further proving the
quality of deep’s shoring system. Many design challenges and
logistical hurdles had to be overcome to lead to the successful
completion of the foundations works for the two historic
projects.
Great thanks to the geostructural engineering team at
Isherwood Associates who worked alongside deep to overcome
these challenges and provided effective engineering
solutions. The success of both projects could not have been
possible without the planning and coordination efforts of the
management teams at Tucker HiRise, MOD Developments
and Turner Townsend.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Track drill installing Massey Hall shoring piles. View from drill attachment on crane drill.
Night drilling below the historic EWG fire escape
54 Q2 2017 www.pilingcanada.ca
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