Highway 174 eastbound open???
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Remains closed until further notice.
OTTAWA — It will take days to fix a failed storm sewer that’s to blame for the sinkhole that swallowed a car and closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 174, city staff say.
The massive 3.6-metre diameter pipe was already scheduled to be replaced, and a contractor had visited the site at the Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard off-ramp Tuesday before it collapsed later that afternoon, taking Juan Pedro Unger’s 2009 Hyundai Accent with it. Unger escaped with very minor injuries.
The highway’s eastbound lanes have been closed to traffic at Blair Road until further notice while crews work in the area.
The westbound lanes remain open, however, after the portion of pipe under them was inspected by camera overnight. It’s newer and is in good condition, the city’s manager of asset management, Alain Gonthier, told council’s transportation committee during a briefing Wednesday morning.
The section under the westbound lanes was installed in 1975, while the piece of pipe that failed under the eastbound lanes was at least 50 years old and was last renewed that same year, he said.
The older section was inspected in the summer of 2011 and identified as in need of a $1.5-million relining, but there was no indication that it was at risk of “imminent” collapse, said Gonthier. Contractors were at the scene cleaning out the pipe earlier in the day on Tuesday to prepare it for the work, but Gonthier said it’s not believed at this point that anything they did led to the collapse.
“We’re really talking about a coincidence,” he told the committee.
Fixing the pipe will take days, not hours, said Gonthier, though he could not provide a more detailed timeline. The city is now dealing with the difficult task of finding the right size of pipe for a repair, as it does not keep a replacement on hand, he said.
Staff hoped to confirm where they’re getting the pipe on Wednesday and by day’s end would have a better idea of how long the repairs will take, Gonthier told the committee. It’s also too early to determine what it will cost to fix the problem, he told reporters later.
Workers are securing the damaged area and pumping water away in order to prevent any uncontrolled collapse during excavation work. The sinkhole collapsed further during the night and is now roughly triple the size it was when it swallowed Unger’s car during the Tuesday afternoon commute.
“It’s growing by the minute,” Gonthier told reporters Wednesday morning. The old pipe must be removed across all of the eastbound lanes in order to prepare bedding for the new one, “so expect the excavation to increase” in a controlled manner, he said.
Unger’s car remains inside the hole, having moved a short distance north, and staff couldn’t immediately say whether they’d be able to remove the vehicle on Wednesday.
Councillors raised concerns about the state of other city pipes, saying residents had emailed them and were particularly nervous about driving over the highway’s westbound lanes.
“It does kind of make you think if it can happen there it can happen anywhere,” said Councillor Diane Deans, who asked Gonthier about the state of the city’s infrastructure and whether its assessment procedure needed to be reviewed.
The city has a lot of infrastructure that it inspects and prioritizes for repairs or replacements based on various risks, Gonthier said, but “unfortunately these situations do happen.
“The city was proactive in this case, we had the assessments done, the work was already being planned, and it is very much an unfortunate situation,” he said. “Overall, the city’s assets are in good condition, they’re safe, and we continue to look after them.”
The city says delays should be expected at rush hour, when thousands of vehicles typically use the highway.
Buses heading to Orléans have been redirected off the highway at Montreal Road to travel along St. Joseph Boulevard, but plans are to have eastbound buses use one of the highway’s westbound lanes between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m., when more traffic is heading out of the core than in.
Staff also planned to open one of the highway’s eastbound lanes to traffic up to Montreal Road during that time to allow people to access St. Joseph Boulevard, the committee heard. The timing of traffic lights was being changed in order to improve the flow of traffic, and staff were looking into having more buses available during rush hour.
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson, who chairs the committee, urged people to stagger trips home if possible.
“It is a very, very significant and major artery, and having it completely closed in the eastbound direction is going to create a degree of chaos in the traffic, there’s no question, no matter what you do to help it,” she said.
Unger, meanwhile, was at the scene Wednesday morning watching as crews searched for his car.
It was all still sinking in for the 48-year-old man, who was just exiting the eastbound Jeanne d’Arc off-ramp of 174 shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when he saw a black patch on the road.
“This was a lucky close call,” Unger said. “It could have been many people dead, including myself.”
Unger did not sleep well after returning home, but said that given the circumstances, he was grateful he came out with only a few scratches and achy shoulders. Injuries could have been worse if there were children in the car or if a motorcyclist had fallen in instead, he said planning to visit his physician later on Wednesday.
“I think this is an urgent call to get cracking and working on preventive measures. It’s frightening. I’m still a bit wary of driving down the road now,” Unger said. His wife drove him to the site Wednesday. He said he was moved by the people who ran out in the rain to help him escape. As for his car, he said he doubts it will be usable but hopes to retrieve some items from it.
OTTAWA — It will take days to fix a failed storm sewer that’s to blame for the sinkhole that swallowed a car and closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 174, city staff say.
The massive 3.6-metre diameter pipe was already scheduled to be replaced, and a contractor had visited the site at the Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard off-ramp Tuesday before it collapsed later that afternoon, taking Juan Pedro Unger’s 2009 Hyundai Accent with it. Unger escaped with very minor injuries.
The highway’s eastbound lanes have been closed to traffic at Blair Road until further notice while crews work in the area.
The westbound lanes remain open, however, after the portion of pipe under them was inspected by camera overnight. It’s newer and is in good condition, the city’s manager of asset management, Alain Gonthier, told council’s transportation committee during a briefing Wednesday morning.
The section under the westbound lanes was installed in 1975, while the piece of pipe that failed under the eastbound lanes was at least 50 years old and was last renewed that same year, he said.
The older section was inspected in the summer of 2011 and identified as in need of a $1.5-million relining, but there was no indication that it was at risk of “imminent” collapse, said Gonthier. Contractors were at the scene cleaning out the pipe earlier in the day on Tuesday to prepare it for the work, but Gonthier said it’s not believed at this point that anything they did led to the collapse.
“We’re really talking about a coincidence,” he told the committee.
Fixing the pipe will take days, not hours, said Gonthier, though he could not provide a more detailed timeline. The city is now dealing with the difficult task of finding the right size of pipe for a repair, as it does not keep a replacement on hand, he said.
Staff hoped to confirm where they’re getting the pipe on Wednesday and by day’s end would have a better idea of how long the repairs will take, Gonthier told the committee. It’s also too early to determine what it will cost to fix the problem, he told reporters later.
Workers are securing the damaged area and pumping water away in order to prevent any uncontrolled collapse during excavation work. The sinkhole collapsed further during the night and is now roughly triple the size it was when it swallowed Unger’s car during the Tuesday afternoon commute.
“It’s growing by the minute,” Gonthier told reporters Wednesday morning. The old pipe must be removed across all of the eastbound lanes in order to prepare bedding for the new one, “so expect the excavation to increase” in a controlled manner, he said.
Unger’s car remains inside the hole, having moved a short distance north, and staff couldn’t immediately say whether they’d be able to remove the vehicle on Wednesday.
Councillors raised concerns about the state of other city pipes, saying residents had emailed them and were particularly nervous about driving over the highway’s westbound lanes.
“It does kind of make you think if it can happen there it can happen anywhere,” said Councillor Diane Deans, who asked Gonthier about the state of the city’s infrastructure and whether its assessment procedure needed to be reviewed.
The city has a lot of infrastructure that it inspects and prioritizes for repairs or replacements based on various risks, Gonthier said, but “unfortunately these situations do happen.
“The city was proactive in this case, we had the assessments done, the work was already being planned, and it is very much an unfortunate situation,” he said. “Overall, the city’s assets are in good condition, they’re safe, and we continue to look after them.”
The city says delays should be expected at rush hour, when thousands of vehicles typically use the highway.
Buses heading to Orléans have been redirected off the highway at Montreal Road to travel along St. Joseph Boulevard, but plans are to have eastbound buses use one of the highway’s westbound lanes between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m., when more traffic is heading out of the core than in.
Staff also planned to open one of the highway’s eastbound lanes to traffic up to Montreal Road during that time to allow people to access St. Joseph Boulevard, the committee heard. The timing of traffic lights was being changed in order to improve the flow of traffic, and staff were looking into having more buses available during rush hour.
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson, who chairs the committee, urged people to stagger trips home if possible.
“It is a very, very significant and major artery, and having it completely closed in the eastbound direction is going to create a degree of chaos in the traffic, there’s no question, no matter what you do to help it,” she said.
Unger, meanwhile, was at the scene Wednesday morning watching as crews searched for his car.
It was all still sinking in for the 48-year-old man, who was just exiting the eastbound Jeanne d’Arc off-ramp of 174 shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon when he saw a black patch on the road.
“This was a lucky close call,” Unger said. “It could have been many people dead, including myself.”
Unger did not sleep well after returning home, but said that given the circumstances, he was grateful he came out with only a few scratches and achy shoulders. Injuries could have been worse if there were children in the car or if a motorcyclist had fallen in instead, he said planning to visit his physician later on Wednesday.
“I think this is an urgent call to get cracking and working on preventive measures. It’s frightening. I’m still a bit wary of driving down the road now,” Unger said. His wife drove him to the site Wednesday. He said he was moved by the people who ran out in the rain to help him escape. As for his car, he said he doubts it will be usable but hopes to retrieve some items from it.
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Sinkhole repairs to take days
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/09/05/ottawa-sinkhole-repairs.html?cmp=rss
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/09/05/ottawa-sinkhole-repairs.html?cmp=rss
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