An update on crane lights & concrete finishing.

Crane Lights

Minto apologizes for the ongoing annoyance experienced by some of the residents next door to the Saint construction site.

The Construction Management Team acknowledges that this has  recently been an ongoing issue. Accordingly, the Construction Management Team has taken steps to address this, for example they have had two different timers installed to automatically shut off the crane lights every night, both of these the timers have failed. The subcontracted tradespeople working on concrete finishing, most often the last crew working on a given day, have repeatedly been instructed to manually turn off the lights. This unfortunately has not always been complied with. 

While understanding more about the operational reality of the construction industry will not provide comfort, it may provide some context: I.E. why solving compliance issues is not quite as simple a human resources problem as some may imagine. The subcontracted trades on any given site are not generally direct employees. Tradespeople are also in short supply across the Greater Toronto Area. Construction managers cannot simply ‘fire’ people and replace them willy nilly. This is of course well-understood by all parties.

However, Minto can pursue and is considering a range of remedies to improve compliance. We will provide updates as they are available. 

A reminder regrading Concrete Finishing 

As we have previously posted, cold weather affects concrete work. Depending on the temperature, different mixes of aggregate are required to ensure the concrete sets. The temperature and the concrete mix also directly impact the time required to ‘finish’ the concrete, which is the final and critical part of all continuous concrete pours.

Base temperature and windchill is difficult to predict with absolute accuracy, but effective temperature is a major factor in slowing down concrete finishing work. This is especially true as the Saint’s structure reaches higher floors. Historically speaking, above 10 degrees Celsius, crews are generally able to finish concrete before 9 pm at night. Below 10 degrees, crews may need to work as late as midnight. Below 0 degrees, crews may have to continue concrete finishing past midnight. These are approximate times.

Every effort is made to complete concrete finishing as early as possible, without compromising safety and the integrity of the concrete.

In the normal course of permitted construction activity — when concrete finishing is in progress — the crane lights must be on to ensure adequate visibility and safety. So, unfortunately, on colder evenings, the crane lights may need to be on after 9 pm and possibly to midnight or shortly thereafter.