Construction crews begin removing and replacing sidewalks on Kingston Rd.
Orange construction barrels and work crews are back on Kingston Road to repair the botched sidewalks installed in the heart of Birch Cliff in August of 2013.
On Wednesday workers with Sanscon Construction tore up a section of sidewalk on the north side of Kingston Rd. between Manderley Ave. and Kalmar.
Crews will work their way down both sides of the street from Birchmount to Warden according to a construction notice issued by the City of Toronto.
In all, 2.2 kms of sidewalk will be replaced and the work is scheduled to end by May 31st.
Sidewalks carried warranty
April 2014 – Councillor Crawford and Sr. Engineer Thomas Yeung inspect concrete damage
Birch Cliff residents first noticed the problem in March 2014, just eight months after the new sidewalks were installed.
When the snow melted, it was evident that the sidewalks had pockmarks on the surface, something known in the construction industry as premature concrete surface failure or “spalling”.
It was a big disappointment for many, who had welcomed the long overdue revitalization of Kingston Road, which included major road work as well as streetscaping in the form of planters, benches and signage.
The good news is that the sidewalks carried a two-year warranty and Sanscon was obligated to fix the problem.
Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford says he’s delighted that thy are now being removed and replaced.
“I’m very pleased to see that the City’s contractor is back in the neighbourhood to replace deficient Kingston Rd sidewalks in Birch Cliff. As you may recall, new sidewalks come with a guarantee, so none of this work will be on the City’s dime. This will be the finishing touch on a terrific project.”
A close-up look at “spalling”, which is common on Birch Cliff’s new sidewalks.
Birch Cliff News has tried to reach Sanscon Construction for comment, without success.
Change in concrete suppliers?
In May of 2014 city officials met with Sanscon Construction to discuss the sidewalks and were told that the problem was the aggregate that was used in the concrete and that Sanscon had changed concrete suppliers.
Phase II of Kingston Rd. construction
Finding the cause of problem quickly was important because Sanscon also had the contract to build the sidewalks in phase two of the Kingston Rd revitalization plan, from Warden to Victoria Park.
Now that phase two is complete, work begins afresh on phase one to fix the mistakes.
