Construction of the new library in the East Village reached a major milestone on Wednesday as the final piece of concrete was hoisted into place to finish the LRT encapsulation structure.
Crews started building the roof over the tracks in the spring of 2014 and now that it is complete they can focus their efforts on the next phase.
“This is a huge milestone. The construction project itself is incredible and if you’re a big nerd like me it’s an incredible piece of construction work. The encapsulation project started just last year in spring 2014. It’s done now and it means that we can start a green light on the vertical construction of the new library,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Officials say 99 percent of the construction was done while the CTrain line was in full service.
“Representing the first project in Calgary’s history that builds around and over an active LRT line, this engineering feat by the project team now enables the start of vertical construction on the library proper,” said Lyle Edwards, CMLC’s Board Chair.
“We shut down only on nine weekends. Approximately 50,000 hours of employment were recorded for this work,” said Nenshi.
The structure encases 150 metres of track and will act as a protective barrier between the Library construction site and the tracks.
The building will take approximately 750 days to construct and will be done in four phases:
- Phase 1 is the Building Skeleton; in this phase, steel and concrete are used to construct and define the four levels of the library structure
- Phase 2 is the Building Exterior or Curtain Wall. The curtain wall forms the outer skin of the building
- Once the curtain wall is in place and the building is enclosed, work initiates on the Mechanical Electrical Services of the building - Phase 3
- Phase 4 is the Fit and Finishing stage. This is the intricate and time consuming work of the program
The new library is expected to open in 2018 and will cost $245M.
For more information on the New Central Library click HERE.
