geraldshaw

Re 200m limit. If and when an architectural gem were to be proposed for 275-300m located in the new core, with an ad hoc permission to build, because of a record and separate $100 million social housing project elsewhere that breaks even -- if it is truly a gem - like a PVM in 1962 - political pressure during the municipal election might do the trick.

8 months since the announcement of REM B, we still have no professional renderings by the Caisse-Infra of the above ground look along R-L/|SherbrookeE. Just a tiny little inset box above as in "trace arien". And virtually all outside observers are against the above ground look, however it may look. Clearly the Caisse is in no hurry to show their ugly scar along R-L and Sherbrooke E to Montrealers. Now the politicians recognize REM-B enclaves are not popular and bad for votes. This project is dying by a thousand cuts. So let's ask the Caisse to withdraw it. The whole project is going nowhere

I cannot imagine wanting to buy a condo which requires me to enter beside a Macdonald's then walk 3/4 of a block inside some corridor before I get to my building entrance. I assume the developers tried to buy the Macdonald's and create an attractive driveway and entrance to the building -- fountain, nice landscaping. Right now 1000's building is trapped behind a concrete corridor and a fast food restaurant. Maybe the delays will fix this.

Add the time at $35 by taxi to drive to Trudeau airport and the check-in 1 hour rule before flight time and then the $60 taxi in Toronto or $15 train ride to downtown and the cost of airfare double to triple the train, I suggest that the current VIA wins the race.

PS I know it breaks the rules, but if Same Guy wants to, I would love to discuss Mr/Dr Speirs in a phone call converstion. Call me anytime at 514 937 4184. Gerald DeWolf Shaw

Mr not Dr Speirs in my time was the best advisor in my life. He was a kind and special leader of SHS and when I was there from 1955, we all respected, indeed as we look back we adored him. I graduated in 1967. I am sorry that you feel so unhappy with him.

Starting at age 11 and on I would go in the the old Forum in 1961 for $1 standing only, way up above the "grays" to watch my heart throb heroes Beliveau, Geoffrion, the Rocket and Pocket Rocket Richards work their magic. They were everything to me, a WASP Selwyn House private school boy. They bound Montrealers and Quebecers together in those, our salad days. Restoring the old Forum's outside is long overdue.

A new beach where no-one can swim. What a farce. https://montrealgazette.com/category/news/

So restore the Forum exterior to its orginal design -- it was quite a beauty.

QUINZECENT - Sorry to interrupt ..... So long since a pic? Are they still below ground?

I hear you. Seems like you too are not going to 'give it up" (i.e., the saving of Rene-Levesque) either, with your alternative routes..

Hopefully all the new residents of Square Children's will get together and petition the city to tear down the old Forum which is now looking like horror film set with its black tacky look alike of an old tubed steel clad Ontario Place pavilion -- it has to be the ugliest monstrosity in the West End.

I would like the REM Information sessions to show how the projects with above ground lines are designed to mitigate risks due to earthquakes. Of Canada's largest cities, most Montrealers do not know that we are #2 in Canada Vancouver is #1 for earthquake damage risk.

If so, then surely you will agree that the drawings by the Caisse Infra just above of "trace ariens dans le terre-plein central" on Rene-Levesque also have "ZERO" to do with this topic. Go figure.

New York Times today - front page investigation of Mexico City elevated metro line collapse https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/12/world/americas/mexico-city-train-crash.html

Skilled labour shortages occur not only because of the construction industry's oligopolistic controls. It happens when the taxation, language and immigration laws are unwelcoming to new entrants. Quebec has the lowest birth date in Canada, meaning that to avoid shortages of labour, there needs to be at least double the current number of annual immigrants -- but policy has been to cut immigration by 30%, because it is thought that is good for voters. Go figure why construction projects take so much longer to build. In the 1960s when Place Victoria was under construction, two storeys per week was achieved.

Breadcrumb Trail Links Opinion Columnists Quebec's misplaced loyalty to concrete, a rigid sponge Author of the article: Peter F. Trent • Special to Montreal Gazette Publishing date: Jun 10, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation Construction of the REM at Highway 40 in Dollard-des-Ormeaux continues on Thursday March 25, 2021. PHOTO BY DAVE SIDAWAY /Montreal Gazette Article content Thanks to the operation of neophilia — the love of novelty — in our society, the allure of newness often stifles caution. For example, when it comes to the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), there has been little public comment on the wisdom of choosing an elevated rail system. Aside from its ugliness, that is. Now, while elevated rail is new to Montreal, the material selected — reinforced concrete — is certainly not. Quebec’s civil engineers have bestowed upon concrete a loyalty that, despite a succession of failures, often outlasted the object of their affections. For aboveground road structures, engineers kept returning to their main mistress of materials no matter how often it let them — and taxpayers — down: The Champlain Bridge was opened in 1962. The deck and its supporting girders used reinforced concrete. Fifty years later, it was clear a new bridge had to be built. In 1971, Laval’s De la Concorde concrete overpass was completed. It collapsed in 2006, killing five. Some uses were plain weird. Take concrete sunshades. To help drivers emerging from tunnels adjust to the sun, hundreds of concrete grilles, weighing a tonne each, were suspended over the roadway and held up by 30-tonne concrete beams, one of which collapsed in 2011. The elevated concrete Turcot Interchange, built in 1967, was riddled with holes, patches and exposed reinforcing when the project to replace it began in 2015. Turcot was sensibly rebuilt on terra firma, using (gasp!) steel beams for overpasses. Advertisement STORY CONTINUES BELOW Article content Quebec is littered with such examples. Concrete failure was deemed to be caused by human error (is there any other kind?). Insufficient or misplaced reinforcing was usually blamed. While concrete is superb in resisting compressive (downward) forces, it is weak when used — as in the above projects — as a solid beam. This is where reinforcing steel comes in: buried in the concrete, it serves as its secret source of strength. But reinforcing steel has its own vulnerability: it mustn’t be exposed to air or water. Small problem: concrete, which serves as its protective sheath, is permeable. It is a rigid sponge. Concrete is made by mixing cement powder, sand, gravel and water. Now, to make concrete placeable, a greater quantity of water is needed than the amount needed to react with the cement to make the whole mass harden. This excess water eventually migrates through the concrete and evaporates. The passages the water creates to make good its exit become permanent two-way avenues within the concrete. Advertisement STORY CONTINUES BELOW Article content In mild or non-coastal climates, these pores present little difficulty. But freezing cycles can cause sodden pores to burst and concrete to spall. Visiting water (often laced with de-icing salt) can make its way to, and start corroding, the reinforcing steel, which then expands. The concrete fissures from this inside job. In elevated structures, truck (or train) vibrations aggravate matters when things get cracking. This is how, during Quebec winters, water has the power to weaken concrete and its reinforcing. Now on to the REM project. While today’s inexplicable infatuation with mid-century modern fashions has yet to die, mimicking elevated concrete expressways when building new rail lines is retrograde. They should be buried. Advertisement STORY CONTINUES BELOW Article content That said, the REM’s quality control is exceptional. The reinforced concrete supports for the tracks are made up of a series of hollow shapes called segmental box girders, all of which are made in a factory. Elevated expressways generally used cast-in-place concrete, causing inevitable job-site goof-ups. REM is also using superior concrete. But concrete is still permeable, still a rigid sponge. While I don’t agree with the claim that the REM elevated structures will last 100 years, I am not suggesting they could self-destruct. I am saying that, with all the staining, patching and repairs of the concrete becoming eventually necessary, if you think they look ugly now — just wait. Peter F. Trent is a former mayor of Westmount. From 1971 to 1989, he was co-founder and CEO of Plastibeton Inc, a worldwide pioneer in polymer concrete technology.

So classy. Close to being our Chrysler building of 2021

REM A report is quite fantastic in every possible way.

The only drawing by Caisse-Infra for REM Est and their "consultations" is a look at REM Est on R-L in front of the Chinatown gates. Without doubt this is proof that la Caisse Infra is mocking the intelligence of Montrealers with its omission of the view from Robert-Bourassa aong R-L to the Chinatown gates. They act like confidence tricksters but to all objective observers, their omissions are a declaration of their defeat and reckless incompetence. Who will be the first fall guy to be ordered to fall on his sword? Poor scapegoat. The CEO of both the Caisse and las Caisse-Infra should be ones to resign, in disgrace and without further delays. They both must resign now or have an investigation order it before the election.

i love my city and I fear that a permanent scar will be created by an above ground line along R-L. I have no hidden agenda. Once this project gets a rubber stamp from the Quebec government - it will be too late to stop it. As it stands now the citizens seem to care less and I fear they will get what they deserve for their silence.

Hard to chill out when I see this drawing in le Journal de Montreal today,

So much uber silence on this opinion. Have emailed to letters to the editor of the Gazette. My written French translation would fail with La Presse and le Journal de Montreal and le Devoir which I read every day. I would like a poster here to send similar letters to the French papers... no problem quoting me. There is a scandal brewing inside the Caisse on REM Est with circular firing squads being formed. Vital that this site be fed to the protagonists.

There needs to be an investigation and forensic audit by the Auditor General of Quebec of Caisse-Infra regarding REM-Est and other projects that are being kept secret from the public. Caisse Infra managers are squandering millions of dollars of our pension savings to fund the REM-Est project and now announce a pretense of consultation, while keeping secret the drawings away from Quebecers -- drawings of the scars that REM Est will cause across the city. This is outrageous. Top management of Caisse-Infra should resign. Caisse Directors should be called out by the public as to their lack of oversight of REM-Est. The very idea of keeping secret drawings that Caisse-Infra knows full well will kill the project while concurrently driving on spending/wasting millions of dollars of our pension money needs the Auditor General's immediate attention and several resignations and sackings at the Caisse.

Yes I am aware having lived in Toronto -- and Pointe aux Trembles is still a distant suburb to our downtown. A nicely designed tram from P aux T along Sherbrooke, Notre Dame, R-L and onto to Atwater and then onto Lachine could be a beautiful "cross town" public transportation line, with a North South tram from Montreal North - that would bind the Island of Montreal as never before as the Metro did in 1966 for the city of Montreal. And could do so in 5-6 years not 10 or most likely never as REM Est is -- a neverendum debate for a project that won't even show the population their secret design for what of the damage to R-L would look like and hold "consultations" with that hidden secret-- and that we all know now, goes nowhere.