December 2, 2016 / By Groupa Concrete
Anyone who has ever visited Toronto will know that the Gardiner Expressway is a crucial road in the downtown core. Spanning for 18 kilometers across the city, this structure was built during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Since then, thousands of vehicles have used it every day in all manner of weather conditions.
Like any roadway however, the Gardiner Expressway has been showing signs of wear and tear for years now and is in need of repair. While patching has been done, the general consensus is that it is not sufficient. There have been multiple proposals over the years for how to go about tackling the project but the central problem has remained the same and that is how to go about shutting down such a vital road for an extended period of time.
Currently, there is a plan in place to rehabilitate the Gardiner that will be done in phases over the years leading all the way up to 2022 but the question is if this will be enough? With rusted rebar showing through and pieces of concrete missing, it’s a scary situation from the perspective of those in the concrete industry. Exposed rebar is susceptible to corrosion and rust has a greater volume than steel which will in turn cause the bars to expand, leading to more concrete coming off as it cracks from the pressure.
“Working to repair the Gardiner Expressway is going to take an exceptional group of architects, engineers & concrete specialists to complete it under the given circumstances.” Says president and CEO of Groupa Concrete Kyle Muffty, “Groupa Concrete was built on a foundation of serving complex problems with innovative solutions to tackle challenging projects exactly like this.”