1. Road and Water Services Reconstruction on Queen’s Park and Wellesley
1.0 Project Description
This project is part of the City of Toronto’s 2014 Capital Construction Program. [1] The
overall project involves road work that covers areas from Bloor St. to College on Queen's Park
Cres. and from Queen's Park to Yonge St. on Wellesley St.. Figure 1 in Appendix A shows a
map of the construction area. The major components of this project are as follows:
Queen’s Park Crescent: July 21st ­ September 22nd 2014
­ road resurfacing and sidewalk reconstruction [1]
­ reconfiguring the Hoskin Ave. and Queen’s Park Cres. intersection [1]
­ addition of a separated bike lane from Hoskin Ave. to Wellesley St. [1]
Wellesley Street: July 21st ­ December 2014
­ road and sidewalk reconstruction and separated bike lane construction [1]
­ watermain service transfer, as well as traffic signal improvements [1]
Prior to any addenda and extra work added to the contract documents, the project was
scheduled to finish in the first week of December 2014 [1].
1.1 Safety On Site
There are numerous safety measures that were applied on site to ensure the overall
safety of both workers and the public. Firstly, all workers on site wore their respective PPE
(boots, helmets, vest). The use of warning signs and cones with reflective sheeting was useful
in terms of directing traffic and pedestrians away from the areas where work was being done
(refer to Figure 2 for a visual). For example, the traffic cones covered the perimeter around the
side of the road on Queen’s Park Cres., where the concrete for the new bike lane curbs was
being poured. This practice made sure that pedestrians wouldn’t step on drying concrete as
they were crossing the street. This also ensured that individual pedestrians, and those walking
their dogs, did not injure their feet on the hot asphalt.
Metal fencing was installed around the perimeter of the north side of Wellesley St. going
towards Yonge St.. As the working crew was there operating on the sidewalks, road bases and
the water services, the public had to be a safe distance away. It separated traffic and
pedestrians from the vicinity of heavy operating equipment such as bulldozers, excavators and
backhoes. Moreover, the fencing was purposed to limit public access to the expensive
construction equipment and materials used on site.
2.0 Detailed Summary of the Construction Process
The following section is a summary of the 3 major components of the project: electrical, water
services, and road work. A detailed weekly account of the project is provided in Appendix A.

2. 2.1 Electrical Work
Although the project primarily consisted of roadwork, there were still several instances of
electrical work that had to be completed. At the intersection of Queen’s Park Cres. and Hoskin
Ave., new intersection lighting was installed (Figure 3). A new traffic light system was also
installed at the intersection of Wellesley St. and Yonge St. During the process of putting up new
streetlights along the north and south sides of Wellesley St. between Bay St. and Yonge St.,
temporary streetlights had to be initially installed. These temporary lights were simply wooden
poles with an attached light. Once these temporary streetlights were erected, the old ones were
taken down and construction began on the bases for the new lights that would be put up. The
wiring for all of these electrical components is placed underground and protected from impact
and moisture using electrical conduits allowing for all of the streetlights and signals to be
sequentially connected to each other as well as to the city’s electricity grid.
2.2 Water Services
In terms of the water services component of the project, it began with work on the sub
drain ­­ an underground network of piping used to remove water from areas that collect surface
water or groundwater. Along Wellesley St. there is an existing watermain, however the city of
Toronto wanted new services to all buildings in order to improve its underground infrastructure.
Because of this, a crew connected the watermain services to the buildings, along with new
catch basins.The process begins with the digging of trenches to access the old watermain and
remove it and then install the new pipes. After chlorination for cleaning, the pipe is pressure
tested to ensure it is adequate for service. When testing is complete, the water services crew
completes the connections between the pipe system and the buildings. When water
infrastructure work is being done, each building that loses its water services requires a 24 hour
notice. In addition, the city of Toronto requires a 48 hour notice before they can come to the site
and turn on the valves to connect water service back to the buildings. As a result, it is crucial to
prepare the schedule strategically to eliminate any unnecessary delays.
As sidewalks change the alignment of the road, the direction flow of the rainwater is thus
changed. A catch basin, ​which is a part of a storm drain or sewer system designed to trap
debris so that it cannot enter the drainage pipes, is thus needed to store the rainwater. It has to
be placed at low points of the road so that gravity can cause water to naturally flow into the
basin. The road will be degraded to cause a slope which allows water to flow into the catch
basin.The roads on east west side of Toronto are all flat, thus the high and low points have to be
made to prevent the streets from flooding.
Excavators and backhoes were used to move topsoil and sod. Underneath the curb lies
the subdrain and the weeping tile which sucks up the groundwater and directs it to the catch
basin. Rainwater sinks into the soil, goes into the subdrain via gravity, then flows to the catch
basins, where it finally travels to the sewer system. One major problem with excavation of this
sort is that contractors never know what they will encounter when they are digging. Finding

3. unknown gas and water pipes is common.​ When water services and catch basins are being
constructed, excavation will be 2m deep. If anything blocks the way of connecting the piping,
workers will have to maneuver around the obstruction, which is often difficult.
There is one crew of 5 people which works on watermain and catch basins. Water
services and catch basins from Bay to Yonge St. on the north side were being worked on during
the first week. In week 3, water services and catch basins were completed there and crews
worked on the south side from Bay to Yonge once the road reconstruction was finished. In
weeks 5 and 6 water services are scheduled to be completed by Tuesday, November 11th.
2.3 Road Resurfacing and Reconstruction
When the project first began on Queen’s Park Cres., the excavation crew used
excavators to dig up the topsoil and sod so they could gain access to the subdrain, situated
underneath the curb. A backhoe was used for sidewalk removal, as well as to remove the
previous asphalt on the road. With the use of a backhoe and dump trucks, the crew could clear
all the residual concrete and other waste to keep a clean working environment. All the concrete
from the old road base and sidewalks is transported to a dump where it is crushed and sent
back as stone for reuse. Once the new pipelines were installed, the excavation could be refilled,
and the new sidewalk paved. Formwork had to be constructed to act as the mold for the
concrete that would end up as the boundary of the sidewalk curb (Figure 6). A type of oil was
spread on the form, in order to make it easier for the concrete to separate itself once it begins to
dry. During this time, workers would use hand rollers to flatten the concrete surface.
After the initial excavation, the asphalt crew, usually consisting of 12 workers, worked on
constructing the new road. The new subgrade consists of 10 inches of compacted soil, along
with a 6 inch layer of crushed stone on top of it. These layers are compacted by driving the
bulldozer over its surface, as well as using a plate tamper to press the subgrade to a certain
compaction. Once this is completed, 10 inches of road base (concrete) is placed and 4 inches of
asphalt is poured. Figure 7 shows a completed portion of the road base. Pouring is done with
the help of a ready­mix truck carrying 9 cubic meters of concrete in each load. The two kinds of
asphalt used for the road work are types HR1 and HR8. The crew is expected to pour 10­15
loads per day for the road, and 3­4 loads on the sidewalk. After the asphalt is paved, it is leveled
with hand rollers. Lastly, when the asphalt is dry, the 8 man line marking crew comes typically at
night time, when there is the least traffic to paint the markings.
As previously stated, it is important to properly design the road grading so that rainwater
is allowed to flow down to the curb to the the catch basins, and finally to the sewers. This crucial
step in the process of road construction prevents substantial flooding in the city. In addition to
the road and sidewalk work, a detectable yellow metal strip was installed at each pedestrian
crossing specifically to allow visually impaired pedestrians to detect the ridges on the strip with
their walking sticks in order to know that the sidewalk ends there. Refer to Figure 9 for a graphic
of the yellow strips.

4.
2.3.1 Considerations
­ 220,000 people were expected to be on site for a book fair, on the weekend of
September 26th­28th so work on Queen’s Park was to be completed by then
­ Onwards of October 15th, there is an additional cost on concrete and asphalt, as
temperatures below 5 degrees cause segregation in the mix and is too cold to pour
­ requires the mix to be heated with an additive prior to pouring
­ protected with thermal blankets to prevent freezing
­ Concrete cannot be poured during extensive rain; schedule is changed to avoid delays
­ For example: The crew would pour two days’ worth of concrete the day prior to
expected rain in order to stay on schedule
2.3.2 Weekly Expectations
­ Complete 250m of sidewalk from Queen’s Park Crescent to Bay Street
­ Pour 3­4 loads of sidewalk
­ Pour 10­15 loads of concrete for the road
2.4 Cycling Improvements
A major component of the entire project was the addition of separated bike lanes, known
as cycle tracks, along Queen’s Park Cres. and Wellesley St. These upgraded bike lanes are
part of Toronto’s plan to improve the cycling network in the downtown core with the goal of
making cycling facilities in the city safer and less intimidating for cyclists. [2] The construction of
these cycles tracks began with building the formwork for the concrete which would act as the
boundary that separated the bike lanes from the vehicle lane. Once the formwork was
completed, the pouring of concrete took place. Once poured, the concrete was smoothed and
compacted using floats. The finished bike lane curb along Queen’s Park Cres. can be seen in
Figure 5. Although beneficial to cyclists, the cycle tracks have several adverse effects on
motorists due to the fact that the bike lanes reduce the number of vehicle lanes on the road as
well as reducing the amount of available space for roadside parking.
3.0 Impacts on Vehicular and Pedestrian Traffic
The road resurfacing and sidewalk work being conducted on Queen’s Park Cres.
definitely had major impacts on pedestrian and motorist traffic flow. The road reconstruction,
water services and cycling improvement on Wellesley St. West also will also have similar
implications on vehicular and pedestrian traffic as the whole infrastructure is being changed.
Particularly, there is a reduction of road lanes from two to one in each direction along Queen’s
Park Cres. as part of Toronto’s initiative to provide friendlier cyclist conditions and a more
extensive network of bike lanes. Although cyclist traffic conditions are being improved, it seems
to be at the expense of motorists’ convenience.
As the number of lanes is reduced a vehicular congestion problem around Queen’s Park
Cres. and Wellesley St. is created. In addition, the installation of a curb to separate the bike

5. lanes from the vehicle lanes impedes the availability of parking space (see Figure 8). There is
now only a small designated parking area available on Wellesley St. close to Bay St.
The road reconstruction and water services being installed also had major impacts on
vehicular traffic. As this process included excavation, construction of new a road base, paving of
new asphalt, and installation of water services, each side of the street and sidewalk needed to
be closed off to public use. For example, when this work was being conducted on Wellesley St.
West towards Yonge St., the north side of the street was closed off for construction while one
south side lane was used only for eastbound traffic. Once work on the the north side of the
street from Wellesley to Yonge was, the south side would then be occupied, while the north side
was opened to vehicular traffic. The strategy of always having one side of the street open to
traffic was important to reduce the inconveniences on motorists as much as possible.
Lastly, the installation of new traffic and street lights on Yonge St. required the electrical
crew to occupy one of the southbound lanes with their boom truck, in order to put in the new
poles and install the electrical wiring. However, this caused a definite traffic issue, especially
during rush hours. A bylaw officer came to the scene and tried to kick off the subcontractors
doing the electrical work because they were causing too much traffic impediment at the time. In
spite of this, the crew had no prior set limitations on when they could block off a road lane
established in the project specifications and contract, so the officer had no authority to stop
them. Otherwise the crew would only be allowed to work during non­rush hours, which would
cause undesired delays in the schedule.
During the installation of the new street lighting, the old ones were shut off, since the
electrical crew needed to redo the underground wiring. Thus, turning off the electricity in the
lights during their replacement is a safety measure. As a result, a police officer was required to
direct traffic during the blackout period. Consequently, this also incurred an impact on vehicular
and pedestrian traffic at the Wellesley and Yonge intersection.
4.0 Conclusion ­ What We Learned
In visiting the construction site twice a week for six weeks, our team learned a great deal
about roadwork and its effects on local traffic as well as the construction process in general. By
regularly visiting the site we were able to view each step in the construction process in
sequence and through this learn more about how the entire project must be meticulously
planned in order to ensure efficient construction with minimal delays. Additionally, we saw many
of the concepts that we learned about in class being applied to a real world construction project
such as various types of equipment, safety procedures, and scheduling. Furthermore, this
experience provided a great amount of insight into construction management ­­ a possible
career path for us as civil engineers. We learned much about the management from
construction from our contact, the site manager, who happens to be an alumni of UofT civil
engineering. Overall, this has been a very informative and enjoyable experience that has set a
strong foundation for our future in civil engineering.

6.
5.0 References
[1] City of Toronto. (July 4, 2014). ​Construction Notice​. [Online]. Available:
http://www1.toronto.ca/City%20Of%20Toronto/Engineering%20and%20Construction%20Servic
es/Construction%20Information%20and%20Notices/Ward%2027/queens­prk_resurfacing_const
­not_july4­14.pdf
[2] City of Toronto. (2013). ​Wellesley­Hoskin Bike Lane Upgrades​. [Online]. Available:
http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=7e930995bbbc1410VgnVCM1000007
1d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=59e3970aa08c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
[3] Figures 2 to 9 have been personally taken by Yavor Aleksandrov around the vicinity of the
construction site. (2014). JPEG files.

7.
Appendix A ­ Weekly Diary
Week 1 ­ Sept 14 ­ 20th
• the job site is from Bloor to College on Queen's park and from Queen's park to Yonge st on
Wellesley
• project started with all sidewalk and sub drain, ground the asphalt all around Queen’s park
crescent, then paved
• since last week a little bit of sidewalk work was done, paved asphalt and concealed line
marking was done at night
• cleanup ­ topsoil and sod outside of curb, because on weekend 220,000 people here for a
book fair
• electrical guys doing intersection lighting, streetlight and traffic lights, putting up poles and
installing signal heads
• if you walk down to Wellesley they're doing water main services to the buildings and new catch
basins
• pouring some concrete on around the circle for new bike lane ­ 2 lane in each direction
reduced to 1 lane, starting from Hoskin Ave
• Wellesley used to be 2 lanes in each direction, now it'll be one lane with a bike lane on either
side; reduced parking on street
• on the other side of queen's park it'll be split, one lane going north one going south
• water services and catch basins on Wellesley ­ there is an existing water main there, and they
want new services to all buildings so a 6 or 4 inch pipe is put in, depending on how much water
the building consumes
• trenches cut into old watermain, put new pipe and have to chlorinate it, as well as pressure
test it to make sure it won't burst when pressurized water is used
• catch basins­ because sidewalks are changing alignment of the road, flow of the rainwater is
changing, the road need to be regraded, the high points and low points relocated ­ on a hill it's
easy, you put the catch basins at the bottom and it catches the rain
• here the road should be sloped on both sides so the catch basins can collect the water on
either side
• on east­west roads of Toronto, everything is flat, so they have to make high and low points,
catch basins going where new low points are so streets aren't flooded
• engineers in design office put package before construction, base it on existing structures with
structures that have to stay where they are, so according to all this they decide where low points
are going to be
• scheduling ­ originally Queen's Park was to be finished today (September 19th) ­ it is on
schedule for the most part other than the extra work added onto the contract; so it should be
finished 3 weeks from today ­ because of 220,000 people, it needs to be ahead of schedule on
Queen's Park
• Equipment: excavators, backhoes, skid steers, rollers for asphalt and granular, electrical guys
using boom trucks to hang poles, cherry pickers ­ go up on basket to hang wires and make
connections at the top

8. • machines used to move topsoil and sod, underneath the curb you have the subdrain, weeping
tile to suck up groundwater: rain ­­­> soil ­­> sub drain ­­­> catch basin ­­> sewer
• gotta watch the grades, with bike lanes separating ­ usually you have to slope going half on
each side
• traffic is an issue ­ people walk on hot asphalt without thinking about it, people burned feet with
flip flops, dogs burn their feet
• working during school a big problem, in the winter snow will be an impact as well
• starting Oct 15 every year there's an additional cost on concrete to protect it from cold
• heat water when they make concrete so it doesn't freeze ­ owner has to compensate as the
project was awarded late!
• asphalt: after 5 degrees, you're not supposed to pave top coarse concrete because too cold to
roll it, it looks segregated and isn’t sealed properly, so thermal blankets are used to cover it
• other major problem ­ water services and catch basins on wellesley ­ trenching 2m deep, if
there's something conflicting you have work around it.
• UofT runs gas main, fiber optics cables to buildings
• crew: 2 concrete crew ­ 18 guys, 1 underground for watermain, catchbasin ­ 5 of them,
electrical ­ 6 guys every day, asphalt crew ­ 12 guys
• line painters only at night with about 8 guys to make lines when no traffic present
• 50­60 people total, 7.5 million dollar project
• grey pipes ­ electricals and conduits for wiring underground ­ from pole to pole ­ handwell to
handwell ­ concrete cylinders
• run conduits to hand well up to poles to wire all street lights and signals
• blue pipe ­ water main pipe
• green ­ sewer pipe for catch basins
• city of toronto wants installed metal plates with circular ridges for the blind people so when
they walk with their stick they feel the bumps and know they're at a crosswalk and have to wait
for the signal ­ new international standard
• the intersections will have audible beeping signal especially made for blind people
Week 2 ­ Sept 21­28
­ last week: finished water services and catch basins form Bay to Yonge on the north side
­ side walk and road work west of Queen's park was complete
­ this week: finish the sidewalk, putting temporary street lights up, while old ones come down
and have to build new bases for the new poles, conduits, and wiring
­ bike lanes on either side need bike signalling for their crossing, and noise beep for blind
people. so these new street lights can do all these things
­ bike lanes with curb, same setup as Queen's Park crescent
• pouring a lot of concrete last week ­ for road base (10 in) and 4 in asphalt
Materials: 6 inches of stone underneath, 10 in of concrete, 2 inch of base asphalt HR8, 2 inch of
surface asphalt HR1
Scheduling ­ everything is moving as expected
Problem: space issue ­ road blocked off

9. • finished north side, redirect traffic to it, so you can do the south side
• problem is that concrete crew is faster than underground crew ­ they'll finish sidewalk this
week
• road base from centre line to sidewalk finished next week
Equipment
• backhoe, sidewalk removal
• mini excavator ­ digging and subdrain
• usual hand tools
• bobcat for watermain
Quantity and measurement
• completion date contract or working day contract ­ 90 working days!
• 3 or 4 loads a day on sidewalk, road base ­ 15 loads (each load 9 m^3)
Week 3 ­ Oct 6­12
Complete sidewalk right to Bay, installed trench drain and detectable warning strips in front of
bus stops
• started road base excavation
• water services and catch basins completed on north side, now working on south side from Bay
to Yonge
• when that's done, this road base will be complete and traffic will be redirected on other side of
the street
• same equipment and materials, only yellow warning strips are new
• Quantity: 250 m of sidewalk complete from Queens Park to Bay ­ done in 1 week
• finished the electricals the intersection with permanent poles and handwells ­ ran conduit and
bases ­ ready to put poles and wirings, but needs to be scheduled with Toronto first
• intersection at Bay ­ need permanent bases and handwells, haven't done conduit there yet,
once that’s complete poles will be installed
• monday ­ intersection at Hoskin Ave is going to get transferred to permanent poles and signals
with bike lights/crossing
• delays ­ nothing since a few weeks ago, minor delays few days here and there ­ due to
additional work city added to contract
Site waste
• all concrete from road base and sidewalks gets loaded to tri­axles, goes to dump and is
crushed then sent it back here as stone
• also have a bin by trailer ­ stuff that we have to send away, waste 2x4's ­ goes to transfer
station north of the city where they separate it there, wood from drywall and try to save as much
as they can
Week 4 ­ Oct 13­19
● new equipment: The dozer will press down material to a flat surface and then rollers are
used to pack down everything: the material has to reach a certain compaction after
which you could then begin road construction
● public protection: blue fence to isolate everybody ­ by law it has to be installed

10. ● waste managed: bins exist for garbage, a truck picks it up and goes to recycling facilities
● this week only doing road work, pouring the concrete, and tomorrow they will be going
towards Bay street on the north side only to continue building the new road
● Electrical crew working at the streetlight, putting the permanent lights up
● 5 guys on this electrical crew, another 8 for the road
● These jobs are very repetitive, very linear, as one thing happens after the next
● materials: 6 inches stone going into concrete, 10 inches concrete road base on top, 4
inches of asphalt,
● the crew pours 100m of road today, but it takes 2 or 3 days to do the whole length
● They have oil on the form, so the concrete will then be separated from the form.
● a worker uses hand roller to flatten the concrete surface.
● subdrain­­pipe under ground, on top of which stones cover subdrain,
● the bulldozer used to push and compact the granular
Week 5 Oct 20­26
• north side complete from Queen's park to Bay, only remaining part to be done is line marking
on road pavement
• water services are to be complete this weekend, but most likely tuesday ­ water services and
catch basins installed on entire road, so now they're working on the north sidewalk from Bay to
Yonge ­ just about complete
• bike lane curb stops for a part of the road, driveways need to be open, along blue fence to
truck there will be parking against the curb, so the bike lane will be further out ­ dangerous as
far as Michael (project manager) is concerned
• Crew is working on the road base, just started the sidewalk
• northside 75% complete ­ boxes are open so electrical can put new bases for streetlight poles,
sidewalks complete in a box,
• electrical guys suck out/dig out pole base, build it, pour it with concrete and they just have to
match concrete left there
Week 6 Oct 27 ­ Nov 2
• traffic lights at Yonge Street have been installed (temporaries), permanent stuff has been
installed as well, going to do new street light poles from Bay to Yonge on north and south side
• now the road base and sidewalk on the north side is complete and crew will move over to the
south side, and consequently, traffic will be switched over to the completed north side
• on south side ­ starting Tuesday (Oct 28th) work going to be done on Yonge to Bay on the
sidewalk
• water services and catchbasins all done, electricals as well so the finish will be quick
• bike lane on south side as well, line markings have been done ­ inside the bike lane there are
2 separate lanes
• and then at the intersection (Queen's Park Crescent) there will be a cross over so that bikers
have one way direction traffic on each side of the road

11. • police officer directing traffic ­ paid by contractor, working there all day ­ required whenever
you're changing over traffic signals
• for example today they're doing the temporary signals in working order, so the current lights
are blacked out
• police officer directs traffic ­ but this traffic light installation creates vehicular pedestrian traffic
inconvenience
• delays ­ gas service break, Ministry of Labour came down along with a safety inspector
• since then the only thing that slowed down the project was rain ­ can't pour concrete when it
rains hard, pour as much as you can (2 days worth) the day before rain so you are still on
schedule
• now with all extra work added to contract ­ project scheduled to finish 3rd week of december
• have to deal with the weather ­ have to be compensated for having to warm up the concrete,
and covering thermal blankets to protect it from the cold
• additive in the concrete
• plate tamper used to compress the dirt, compact the subgrade for sidewalk area, same
function as the roller used for the road base
• Wellesley ­ 500m linear of sidewalk complete, 300m of road base on north side (Queen's Park
to Bay)
• need to provide 24hrs before shutting off the water services shaft
• occupying one southbound lane on yonge street, so guys could do work overhead with boom
trucks
• bylaw officer came and told sub contractors to get off the road, can't be there during rush
hours, however there are no restrictions in the contract saying they can only block off certain
lanes during specific hours, so the officer had no authority
• when we schedule to connect water services to the buildings ­ have to give the building,
tenants and people inside a 24 hour notice
• in order to get city over here to shut off the valve ­ they need 48 hours notice
• so now they wanted to connect a tall building tomorrow morning, the building was okay with it
but the city only got 24 hrs notice so they said they cannot do it
• valve ­ open it up and turn off water, so you never want the shut off valve to close to where
you're working in case it blows up, (this particular one weighs 300 pounds ­ if it blows the
excavated hole will be flooded)
• make sure you have clearance ­ if you leave it wide it'll blow off and in this temperature a hole
full of water can cause hypothermia on a worker's body
• that's the issue ­ scheduling with the government buildings

12. Appendix B ­ Figures
Figure 1 ­ A map of the project’s area of work [1]

13.
Figure 2 ­ Showing excavation of Wellesley Street and caution cones

14.
Figure 3 ­ Electrical crew installing new traffic lights with help of a boom truck
Figure 4 ­ Hydraulic Shield, a type of soil retention equipment

15.
Figure 5 ­ New constructed bike lanes with a paved curb

16.
Figure 6 ­ Demonstrates formwork for the concrete pours and the ready­mix truck
Figure 7 ­ Excavation and Concrete pour for Road Base

17.
Figure 8 ­ Shows new constructed bike lanes with curbs and 1 lane traffic going eastbound

18.
Figure 9 ­ Shows yellow detectible strips in lower right corner