Looking south on Bay Street, from Scollard Street, shortly past 2 p.m. this afternoon. The entire block was closed to vehicles and pedestrians
With a television cameraman filming the action, two construction workers sweep debris from Bay Street while another crew inspects hoarding on the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Four Seasons hotel + condo construction site
Construction accident: It’s amazing nobody was hurt when a load of construction cement fell 53 storeys from the top of the Four Seasons hotel and condo tower and splattered onto Bay Street shortly after lunchtime today. The construction accident occurred around 1.20 p.m., but police and bystanders said no-one was injured and no vehicles or buildings damaged when cement showered onto the pavement between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Streets. That section of Bay Street is typically busy with steady daytime traffic, including city buses, and dozens of pedestrians would have been walking along nearby sidewalks at the time. According to a story in the Toronto Star’s online edition, the mishap occurred when concrete was being poured into a mould on the 53rd floor of the tower, which will rise a total of 55 storeys once construction is completed. When the mould buckled, the concrete rained down onto the street. Police closed the entire block between Yorkville and Scollard so crews could clean the cement spill while staff from the provincial Ministry of Labour investigated the cause of the accident. A street cleaning machine was brought in to assist several construction workers using push brooms to sweep up the mess. Traffic throughout Yorkville was snarled as pedestrians and vehicles were forced to detour around the street closure. I arrived at the Bay/Yorkville intersection just as the crews finished sweeping the street, so there was little to see other than yellow “do not cross” tape and police vehicles barring access to the block, along with dozens of curious onlookers gazing upward at the tall glass tower and asking each other what had happened. Below are several photos I snapped at the scene. Additional photos of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences can be viewed in my April 1 2011 post about progress on the construction project.
A view of Bay Street from the northwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue, outside The Regency condominium building
A media photographer chats with police at the northeast corner of Bay & Yorkville
Television cameramen filming from the northwest corner of Bay & Yorkville
A TV cameraman films police standing a block away at Scollard Street
A TV cameraman shoots footage of the Four Seasons while pedestrians look up at the hotel/condo tower and traffic detours past the site
The police roadblock at Scollard Street, outside the Four Seasons West Residence
The Four Seasons’ East and West Residence towers viewed from the northwest
Two construction workers atop the Four Seasons’ 26-storey East Residence Tower
Cranes atop the West Residence tower, now 53 storeys tall on its way to 55