Global Courant
The cost of rescuing a multimillion-dollar drill stuck under a west side street has nearly tripled in just months, with city officials saying the work to excavate the device is more complicated than originally anticipated.
The updated cost estimates and timeline will come to the Toronto General Government committee next week. Documents show that work to free a microtunneling drill that has been trapped under Old Mill Drive since last spring has risen to $25 million — up from its roughly $9 million price tag in March.
City officials say additional groundwater infiltration at the site and the need for more soil stabilization contributed to the rising price and delayed the project. The machine remains jammed and the work has taken about six months longer than originally expected.
The latest slowdown doesn’t sit well with residents who say they’ve struggled for years with a steady stream of heavy equipment, debris and vibration from construction. The price increase is the latest unpleasant surprise, says Tanya Boswick, who lives on the street.
“I think every taxpayer in this city should be outraged at the amount of money being spent on this project,” she said. “There are plenty of other communities and causes and needs that our city has to contend with.”
Boswick said the community has been dealing with dust, noise and a constant flow of construction vehicles for years. They want the project done, she said.
“It’s really just the constant noise, the constant vibration,” she said. “Not to mention all the dust and dirt that goes around on top of the poor air quality. It’s really made this summer a nightmare for the people of this community.”
Pilons and gates block part of Old Mill Drive, where work continues to rescue a multi-million dollar drilling machine stuck below the surface. (Patrick Morrell/CBC News)
Iain Downie lives in an apartment block next to the work site. His apartment overlooks the work.
“We can’t sit out on our balconies,” he said. “We clean everything constantly because of the dust. We change the indoor air filters regularly because it just comes in.”
“And we just need to hear that everyone around is really miserable. That’s really not nice.”
Work to dig a new storm sewer on Old Mill Drive began in March 2022. The project was designed to address chronic basement flooding in the area. City staff chose to use a remote-controlled micro tunnel boring machine, which is five feet wide and five feet long, to create the new sewer tunnel.
The plan was to place the machine 60 feet underground and travel 900 feet to a pre-built exit shaft on Bloor Street West. Workers had to place it deep underground to prevent it from coming into contact with the nearby Bloor-Danforth subway line.
But with only seven meters to go on its route, the machine hit 14 underground steel tiebacks that were part of the construction of a nearby apartment building. It got caught up in it and is now twisted and off course.
Steel tiebacks hang from the front of a micro tunnel boring machine used by the city to build a new storm sewer on Old Mill Drive. This photo was taken underground shortly after contractors working on the project discovered the vehicle had been hit. The operation to remove it is complicated by mud and water. (City of Toronto)
Machine salvage costs increase by another $16 million
Initial work to dig the new sewer tunnel was budgeted at $7.2 million. In March, the city signed an exclusive deal to acquire the machine for an estimated $9 million.
The new report says costs increased by another $16 million to $25 million.
The city says the latest numbers are based on estimates and “represent the potential costs required to complete the emergency work.”
“Final charges and actual payments will be based on substantiated and certified invoices,” the city said in a statement.
Contractors had hoped to salvage the machine in early April. The rest of the sewerage works are expected to be completed in the autumn.
Workers are believed to be able to pull the machine off the ground by the end of August.
The enclosed drilling machine has a diameter of 1.5 meters and a length of five meters. City contractors will try to remove it in pieces from the tunnel under Old Mill Drive in the coming weeks. (City of Toronto)
The city says while contractors were digging by hand to save the drill, they encountered more water than expected.
“To safely proceed with the removal of the machine, the water had to be removed and the surrounding territory had to be stabilized,” the city said in a statement. “That required an expert in soil improvement and stabilization.”
count. Gord Perks said the water infiltration has been a problem and wet weather hasn’t helped matters.
“If there’s a big rainstorm, the work they do to get the tunnel boring machine out is jeopardized,” he said.
Perks said he understands residents’ frustration with the project. He has often organized city meetings with the neighborhood to keep people informed about the situation.
“It is quite right that people should be angry that a project that should have been completed in six or eight months is dragging on and on,” he said. “That’s totally understandable. But there’s no magic cheap solution here. This is going to cost some money.”
count. James Pasternak is the chairman of the city’s general government committee. Council members will ask targeted questions of city staff on Monday, he said.
“This is a shocking amount,” he said. “Now I realize that the work to be done is extremely risky and sophisticated.”
Pasternak said the work is urgent and must continue to ensure that the roadway around the site does not collapse. But he hopes lessons can be learned from this situation.
“We’re going to ask some tough questions about why is the single source, why it’s so much money and what are the options for recovering this money through litigation,” he said.
