Tadpoles latest culprits in sinkhole saga

Following Tuesday's storm sewer collapse and the chaos that ensued, Cumberland councillor Stephen Blais decided to ask city staff for a timeline of everything that happened, following that inspection last summer when engineers noticed the pipe had deteriorated and needed to be re-lined. Here's what he got today:

Good Afternoon Councillor Blais,

The following is the project history as requested:

17 August 2011:  Project was scoped to Design and Construction Municipal East. 

8 Sept 2011:  PO was issued to Novatech Engineering to commence the design which included the lining of the storm drainage pipe.  Size of lining was not known.

26 Sept 2011:  Finalized scope to determine the minimum final diameter for the storm drainage pipe after lining.

Beginning of October commenced functional design

Dec 2011 complete functional design

15 Feb 2012: Submitted application for permit to the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) - determined that no work could occur on this project from March 15 to July 1^st in order to protect local fish populations during spawning

16 Feb 2012: Preliminary design completed for 174 lining and headwall

7 May 2012: Final geotechnical  memo for construction information received

18 May 2012: final permit received from the RVCA - on the permit it stated "no work could occur on this project from March 15 to July 1^st in order to protect local fish populations during spawning"

1 June 2012: Design Drawings Complete for 174 lining and headwall

30 June 2012:  Tender package complete

18 July 2012: tender closes and award process commences

23 August 2012: preconstruction meeting, PO created for Louis Bray and Commence Work Order Issued

27 August 2012: contractor started to mobilize on site

Thanks,

Ziad A. Ghadban, P. Eng.

Manager

Design and Construction - Municipal (East)

Infrastructure Services Department

100 Constellation Crescent, 6th Floor West

Ottawa, Ontario  K2G 6J8

Tel. No.:  (613) 580-2424, ext. 22663

Fax No.:   (613) 560-6064

Blais says if the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority hadn't forbidden that work from commencing before July 1, the job would have been higher on the priority list and the pipe could have been re-lined much sooner. Theoretically, that would have prevented the collapse, the sink hole, and the traffic nightmare that ensued. In other words, if it weren't for a few tadpoles, east-end residents might not be sitting in gridlock tight now.