http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9166/63267959.jpg

This is to the north of the current station, between Woodroffe and the Transitway. I assume that what they're doing here is expanding the Navaho access point.

Although the Navaho Structure will be the first one replaced, I believe what you have captured above is the temporary connection of the storm water drain of the temporary station to the existing pipe under Woodroffe.

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

I took this photo with my cell phone today. I am not exactly sure what they're doing though. Drains? :hmmm:

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/9063/moto0066.jpg

Progress as of today, July 25.

Here's the perspective from which I took my pictures.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1019/image021c.gif

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/4148/img1330b.jpg

Note, the following photo is very large (panorama).

Those are actually concrete encased underground electrical conduits.

Ah, ok. That makes sense.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how the new station turns out. :banana:

What's the schedule like for the completion of the temporary station? The plan calls for sometime this month, but doesn't go into specifics.

Incidentally, does anyone know why the centre platform was ditched in favour of the two side platforms? You'd think the centre would be more convenient for passengers and be of benefit to the Quickies business that's sitting there.

^Probably because it takes up less space. And seeing as the new station is temporary until the underground one is built, the two side platform was a better solution.

^Will they revert back to the centre platform for the underground station, though? I have my doubts.

Anyway, here's a new panorama of the temporary station for your viewing pleasure.:awesome:

This is speculation, but it wouldn't surprise me if the temporary station will become part of the regular street network during the build-out of the rest of Centrepointe. If that's the case, then a side-loaded setup is more amenable to that. Another definite possibility is the fact that at Hurdman Station we are already seeing some congestion from the buses having to cross each others' paths all the time and they may have wanted to avoid that possibility at Baseline.

Not for the buses, they won't. But there will be a centre platform for light rail *in addition* to the side platforms for buses, which of course will only be used heavily for a few years until light rail arrives. I don't think they should be building a bus tunnel at all - they should just use the temporary station until light rail is available and for light rail a tunnel isn't even needed. We're building a massive bus tunnel at considerable expense for all of about 5-10 years of heavy bus use (depending on the relative timing of the bus tunnel and light rail to Baseline).

Thanks.

According to the City's map of land parcels, the temporary station is just that, a temporary station.

http://REade.fileave.com/BaselineSta...cels-Small.jpg

Recall that both Parcel 1 and Parcel 3 have been 'sold' to Algonquin College. In Parcel 1 they will build the Building Sciences (BS) building. Construction needs to start in October 2009 at the latest so that it will be completed within the 2-year funding time frame. Thus, the Baseline Station needs to be moved by the end of September.

However, the temporary station is being erected on Parcel 3 so that Parcel 2 is available for construction of the trench/tunnel. The tunnel is being constructed in association with the construction of the BS building. I believe this is supposed to save the City money.

According to Algonquin's plan, it hopes to begin building the Health Sciences (HS) building on Parcel 3 in 2013. The final Baseline Station will need to be completed and the temporary one removed by then since the temporary station is completely on Parcel 3. It doesen't look as if any part of the temporary stations infrastructure will be re-used. The space between Parcels 4 (owned by Arnon Corp) and 5 is where the future road will go.

From the final layout of the station, you can see that all of the bus facilities are south of College Avenue.

http://REade.fileave.com/BaselineSta...ure-Layout.jpg

There will be NO bus stops within the tunnel area. There will be a central platform for the LRT with elevators/stairs to the grassed area between the buildings, and from the south end of the LRT platform up to the bus platforms.

Oh yes... it's coming back to me now. We're going to end up with some [likely] useless greenspace between the two buildings that will no doubt end up with trodden-down paths across the grass.

Sigh. You're right. Perhaps they should have put the temporary station in the spot for that road to save on future costs (for both the road and the demolition of the temporary station), though it would have meant making Algonquin students walk further (which they'll be doing anyway once the final station is complete and have to walk up and down about four storeys a day).

I wasn't too clear on this, I admit. The bus platforms are not in the tunnel but rather in the open cutting just beyond the south portal of the tunnel at College Avenue - but the tunnel itself will have shoulders which means that it would basically be wide enough for bus platforms anyway. The upshot is that we're going to be spending enough money to buy bus platforms in the tunnel without actually getting them. In the long term, what this means is that in the tunnel the centre LRT platform will have tracks either side of it and beyond them will be little-used bus lanes and practically never-used bus shoulders. We'll have a costly piece of infrastructure where about half its width will be infrequently used in the long term.

Never mind the cost to the taxpayer of the machinations at Lansdowne - at least we'll get something of some use there - the real waste in the next few years will be at Baseline.

Another panorama from today. :dancing:

They're getting close to finishing now. I suspect the shelters will go up next week.

Taken from my blog ;)

Does anyone know where the missing shelters are? The plan the City made implies that they're supposed to run all the way down each platform:

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/8215/toosmall2.jpg

the temporary station's now open.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8585/img1671small.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_FAv74ezFXWM/Ss...ll%5B12%5D.jpg

I made this this evening: :cheers:

I was there today. Uggh. I'm glad I don't have to spend any time there; from the notices that were up apparently Transitway shelters are to come in a couple weeks' time (I guess from the existing station?).

What I really can't stand is the fencing on the west side. It's ugly and it's a waste of money but mainly it's just all wrong. All there is down there is a short embankment (to be grassed over I would assume), a multi-purpose path and then a parking lot. What purpose is the fencing serving? Stopping people from clambering down into a parking lot? Preventing short-cutting? Making sure people can't easily get to the path? There's a bureaucratic/technocratic 'people need to be controlled' attitude at work here, even though there's no discernible need to control pedestrian movements.

Nice.

Did you paint that?

Righto. Thanks for the heads up. I visited the station today and found the signs. It seems like they're actually going to install completely new shelters. Though I do wonder what will happen to the old station's shelters...

:D

Not exactly.

I used photoshop

Yesterday they started installing the new shelters.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3189/img1811ssss.jpg

I see that the shelters being installed at the 'Temporary' Baseline Station are different from the downtown shelters.

http://REade.fileave.com/Misc/Slater-Shelter.jpg
Slater Shelter

http://REade.fileave.com/Misc/Baseline-Shelter.jpg
Baseline Shelter

From the looks of it, the 'Temporary' Baseline Shelters are much more robust than the 'Permanent' Downtown Shelters. Maybe it is because of the larger size.

For those inquiring minds who have wondered why the grade of the new Baseline Station is more than a meter higher than the old station, the answer is due to the storm water drain for the future Baseline Station.

The big storm water pipe for this portion of the Transitway (College Ave. to Baseline Rd.) is going to be under the tunnel, and it needs to pour into the Pinecrest Creek about 650 metres away. Starting at the outlet of the pipe, working back up the minimum slope to the location of the College Ave. structure; adding the minimum pipe cover and the minimum vehicle clearance height and structure thickness gives the minimum grade of College Ave.. In order to not have to re-grade College Ave later, it was decided to simply raise everything to the required height now.

My understanding is that once College Ave. is re-graded and Constellation connected between Baseline Rd. and the Station, the 118 will again go directly to the Baseline Station; but this will take some time. The Navaho structure will be built as part of the Algonquin work and be used by them for their heavy vehicle access. Once the construction is completed, the Navaho structure will be turned over to OC Transpo and the 118 will then run Constellation - Navaho, with the stop on Navaho, on or near the structure. It is likely that this will be the permanent location of the 118 stop. All other buses, of course, are to be stopping at the south end of the tunnel, at the new Bus Transit Transfer Station being built south of College. The College structure and neighbouring station will be built once the Navaho structure is up and running.

October 26, 2009
http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/35860/100.jpg

Ottawa's Algonquin College breaks ground on Centre for Construction Excellence
New home for trades training, sustainable building education
KORKY KOROLUK
correspondent
http://dcnonl.com/article/id35860

Ground has been broken for the construction of a building that will not only house construction trades training, but also an applied learning centre for sustainable building.

Robert Gillett, president of Algonquin College, turned the sod recently for the $77-million building that will house all of the college’s construction-related training programs. The facility, he said, “will not only help to address the skills shortage in the construction industry, it will be a showcase for green construction and training in Eastern Ontario.”

Called the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence, the building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2011. It will be a 180,000-square-foot structure, and will house about 2,500 student spaces, an increase of about 600 spaces.

The building, designed to achieve the LEED Platinum rating, will also be a showcase and teaching laboratory for best practices in sustainable construction.

Gillett said it will be “the largest building in Canada to meet the exacting standards for LEED Platinum status.”

EllisDon Corporation is the design-build contractor.

http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/35860/101.jpg

ALGONQUIN COLLEGE RENDERING The proposed woodshop training area in the new Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence.

Architects on the project are Diamond + Schmitt Architects Incorporated and Edward J. Cuhaci and Associates Architects Inc.

Michael Leckman, a principal with Diamond + Schmitt, said the building will be an example of “super green” construction.

It will feature a storm-water recovery system to capture rainwater for flushing toilets. Solar panels will provide some power and hot water and serve as a working demonstration of the potential of solar energy. A five-storey-tall “bio-wall” in the building’s atrium will be covered with plants that will help control the indoor environment by controlling humidity and filtering the air.

The building will have R30 insulation in the walls and R50 in the roof. Windows will be triple glazed. Heat pumps will provide heating and cooling.

Much of the roof will be an undulating green garden that will, Leckman said, “add campus greenspace and help with insulation (while) lowering the demands on the heating and cooling systems.”

Algonquin presently runs 19 full-time construction-related programs, and more are being planned. The college also offers 13 evening and weekend programs.

The need is clear. The construction industry’s workforce is aging, and by 2020, about half of existing trades workers are expected to retire.

The Construction Sector Council has estimated that 56,300 new construction workers will be needed to replace those retiring and to sustain the Ontario workforce at its 2006 level. And 17,600 new workers will also be needed by 2016 to fill positions expected to be created through growth in the industry.

There are likely to be labour shortages in the short term, as well. The day before the ground-breaking at Algonquin, some local industry spokespeople had expressed concern over a possible shortage next spring, when the bulk of Ottawa’s stimulus projects get into the ground.

The federal and Ontario governments each contributed $35 million to the project, and the city of Ottawa donated the land, worth $2 million.

In addition, $7 million is being raised by the local construction industry.
That funding drive got a big boost recently when Roger Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Minto Group, made a gift of $1 million. Gillett said it was the largest individual gift in the history of Algonquin College.

Greenberg noted that “education is a cornerstone of a strong community and an integral part of its over-all success.”

“We feel privileged to be able to contribute to development of the skilled and educated workforce of tomorrow.”

http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/35860/102.jpg
ALGONQUIN COLLEGE
A living wall, or “bio-wall” on one side of the building’s atrium will rise five storeys and will help clean the indoor air and control humidity.

http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/35860/103.jpg
ALGONQUIN COLLEGE
This low aerial view shows part of the extensive green roof that will cap much of the building.

http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/35860/104.jpg
ALGONQUIN COLLEGE
Parts of the extensive green roof will be used as park space, an extension of the Algonquin campus. This view shows the undulating nature of the roof.