By Pepper Parr
April 28, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The moment I walked onto the Paradigm construction site – it was evident that things were moving forward the way they were expected to.
It was now a much tidier looking construction site. Previously there was a lot of steel stored on the property – but with the crash wall at the rear of the site basically completed there is a lot more room for equipment to get around. There is a sense of openness to the place
Rodger Park, a construction site boss with the title of project manager juggles a cell phone that he would really prefer not to have to use and a keyboard that is now his main working tool. “I never thought: he said “that this thing would be where I spent most of my time on.”
The western part of the site has the two levels of parking completed, the ground floor and the second floor poured with forms being put in place to support the third floor. The Burlington GO station can be seen in the background.
Rodger is a construction worker – who now pushes paper and ensures that jobs get done when they are supposed to be done and that the construction site is a safe place.
“I’ve never had a serious accident on any site I’ve been responsible for”, a comment he makes on the day Toronto is holding a ceremony to remember the close to 1000 Italians who lost their lives working construction.
There are a lot more rules and the focus is on making sure people don’t get hurt – it wasn’t always like that he commented.
The crash wall on the north side of the site – next to the GO railway lines is there to protect the building should something go wrong on the railway side of things. It is more than five feet think with steel rods throughout to give it strength. Nothing is coming through that wall.
The Paradigm project will, when completed, consist of five towers. The first three are on the north side and are attached to each other up until the 9th floor.
The swimming pool is at that level explains Rodger – people will be able to walk from whichever building they live in to easily get to the pool.
From the 9th floor up to the 19 floors the towers become individual units.
Rodger knows them as Tower A, Tower B and Tower C – the marketing people will eventually give then fancier names.
A form into which concrete will be poured is moved into position with a construction worker making sure it is exactly where it is supposed to be.
Tower A on the west side has the two parking levels completed plus the ground floor and the second floor with forms going in place for the third floor. Park expect to be at the 9th floor level late summer – assuming the weather cooperates.
Concrete gets poured, forms get put in place while an excavator prepares for the next task on a different part of the site.
On the east side of the site there is still some work to be done on the parking levels.
With two cranes moving material around the site and carrying concrete from the cement mixers into the buckets and up into the air the two riggers on the site are kept busy.
There is a rigger on the ground who is in constant communication with the crane operator who has a clear view of the site but doesn’t rely on hand signals. It is all voice.
Tonnes of concrete delivered to the site and hoisted into position. A site supervisor is in constant contact letting the concrete mixing pant know when to send the next truck – there is never a break in the flow of concrete.
There are four and sometimes up to six cement trucks on the site – moving in, positioning themselves, offloading the concrete and pulling out to make room for the next truck.
There is never an open spot – the crews putting up the forms and readying them for the concrete are never kept waiting.
The weather on this Thursday morning was close to perfect. A little on the brisk side which is fine because these men are moving every minute – it was surprising to see a rigger dashing across the construction site to bull a piece of equipment into place.
Construction site supervisors will pop into the construction office with plans in their hands to ask Rodger a question – while it is very much a full team effort – each supervisor knows what he is expected to accomplish and gets it done.
At times it looks like half a dozen teams working individually on a task and then, like ants, moving along to the next task.
Site supervisors check in with Project manager Rodger Park – getting clarification on what the plans call for – this question was about where the electrical chargers are going to be place – the Paradigm residents are expected to be big users of electrically powered cars.
There isn’t a lot of noise – the consistent sound of those backing up beepers on the trucks is something that is always present.
The sales and presentation centre isn’t opened this early in the day – hey are afternoon, evening and weekend people.
Five towers will make up the Molinaro Paradigm project on Fairview south of the GO Station. The first three are now under construction.
Tower A is sold out, there was no one around to tell us where sales were with Towers B and C. The project is decently priced, in a great location for people who want to be close to the GO station. Having a Walmart the length of a football field away makes it a compelling location. A mall a couple of blocks to the east and a decent stroll to the waterfront explain much of the attraction.
When all five units are completed and housing people there will be a community of 2000 – sitting at the top of Brant street.
It will have a huge impact on the way the downtown core works – expect to experience a different Burlington when the project is completed in 2018.
