Falling concrete on the Gardiner is often from trucks, not the aging highway

According to the latest numbers from the city of Toronto, concrete falling off the Gardinerexpressway is oftencoming from overloaded construction trucks not the aging highway.

The numbers, gathered for Maintenance and Traffic management found that out of 86 cases of falling concrete since 2012, only 25 percent came from the expressway.

Toronto Police confirm that muchof the concrete people assume isfalling off the highway, isactually coming from overloaded construction trucks heading through the downtown core tothe Portlands for reprocessing.

After several concrete falls were recorded from the Gardiner Expressway in 2012, the city enhanced its inspection and controlled chipping program.

These are the numberof calls for concrete falling since 2012:

• In 2016, 13 calls were received, 2 were confirmed from the Gardiner.
• In 2015, 20 calls were received, 6 were confirmed from the Gardiner.
• In 2014, 19 calls were received, 4 were confirmed from the Gardiner.
• In 2013, 24 calls were received, 5 were confirmed from the Gardiner.
• In 2012, 9 calls were received, 4 were confirmed from the Gardiner.

Const. Clint Stibbewith Toronto Police traffic services says this is a multi-layer offence.

"The driver is the one transporting, but the reality is the driver isn't the one who loads that vehicle. It's the construction industry, so the loaders from the sites that are actually packing these vehicles too heavily or too high."

• Report of falling concrete fromGardinerstalls traffic before rush hour

Because there are no truckscales along the Gardiner, Stibbe says they rely on random truck stops.

He says it's the drivers who are faced with the penalties.

"A small piece of concrete can make some damage but a large piece of concrete can kill somebody....our Commercial Motor Vehicle and Inspection Team are charging drivers for committing those kinds of offences"

Those vehicles are stopped from operating and are off-loaded to a safe weight. They may also face fines.

At this point, the loaders from the construction companies don't face any penalties, but Stibbe says there is new legislation being worked on to put more responsibility on the loaders.