Sinkholes raise Evergreen Line concerns
Ground collapses after tunnel-boring machine shut down for regular maintenance
There’s a sinking feeling in a Port Moody neighbourhood as a result of construction on the Evergreen Line.
A second sinkhole in the area where a tunnel-boring machine is working on the $1.4-billion SkyTrain extension has raised enough concern that residents will hold a meeting Tuesday across the street from where the latest incident occurred at Cecile Drive on Jan. 2.
The previous sinkhole opened up near the end of October on nearby Chateau Place, which is where Kerry LeCorre lives. She will be going to Tuesday’s meeting.
“I know what they’re going through because I’ve kind of been there,” she said.
She remembers when the sinkhole appeared in the parking spot of a residence on Chateau.
“It was a little freaky because it was deep,” said LeCorre. “It took 11 cement trucks to fill the hole.”
Now, when the tunnel-boring machine has stopped for maintenance again like it did by Chateau, there’s been another sinkhole.
Pete Le Voguer lives in the Woodland Park development and has had to use another route to get home because Cecile is closed as a result of the latest sinkhole. While he hasn’t seen any problems, there’s talk spreading around his neighbourhood of cracks in drywall and a story about tap water turning brown.
“We want some assurances things are going to be safe,” said the married father of two who attend a nearby school. “There’s thousands of people living in the neighbourhood.”
Port Moody Coun. Rick Glumac can understand residents’ concerns and will be attending the meeting.
“What I’d like to happen is some sort of expert brought in to assess the ground stability, so when the operation is finished and they have left, there is no concern about future sinkholes developing,” said Glumac.
Amanda Farrell, executive project director for the B.C. government on the Evergreen Line, confirmed Sunday that a representative of the project will also be at the meeting.
“Our first priority is safety, which is why we closed the road,” said Farrell of Cecile.
What has happened on Cecile wasn’t a complete surprise.
“Every so often, the tunnel-boring machine has to stop for the cutter heads to be inspected and the tools changed,” said Farrell. “What can happen is that the ground material can shift and move and create holes and that can propagate up to the surface, and that is what happened in this instance.”
Farrell said the chamber behind the tools has to be cleaned out for them to be replaced and that process could take another two to four weeks.
The talk in the neighbourhood is that there are underground creeks on the route and the water is causing delays. Farrell admitted there was water around the tunnelboring machine.
“That was always known and expected,” she said of a tunnel that is 30 metres below ground and under the water table. “I don’t think the water should be a particular concern. It’s just a question of how the contractor gets in to do their maintenance.”
Investigation of that issue is underway.
The Evergreen Line is about halfway through construction.