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More cracks on concrete LRT beam in Edmonton are not a structural concern: TransEd

Click to play video: 'Valley Line LRT issues raise concerns over P3 projects'
Valley Line LRT issues raise concerns over P3 projects
The city is now reviewing all major projects and how they're funded in light of another round of delays for the Valley Line, which is being built as a public-private partnership with a consortium TransEd. Breanna Karstens-Smith takes a look back at how the project started a decade ago and the issues along the way. – Aug 11, 2022

TransEd said Wednesday that two small cracks in the concrete at Edmonton’s Davies transit station are “non-structural” and unrelated to the pier cracks previously discovered on the elevated tracks along the Valley Line LRT extension.

The company, responsible for building the LRT extension to southeast Edmonton, said a photo of cracks was posted to social media by a member of the public on Tuesday.

Dallas Lindskoog, spokesperson for TransEd, said there are “two small non-structural surface cracks at the corners of a construction joint between two concrete pours; the main concrete beam, and the bearing support block-out, at Davies Station.”

He added that the construction joint itself may look like a crack but is not actually one.

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“The small cracks at the corners of the construction joint are non-structural and may have developed as a result of water ingress in the past and subsequent freeze thaw cycles,” Lindskoog said.

They will be sealed with epoxy “like any other surface crack on the Valley Line,” but that may not happen until temperatures warm in the spring. Train testing continues on the elevated tracks and is not affected.

TransEd said the cracks at the corner of the construction joint do not extend through the concrete.

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“Our engineers inspected the cracks and construction joint,” Lindskoog said.

“The location of the crack/construction joint is not on a pier and is in no way related to the elevated tracks pier cracks,” he clarified.

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Davies Station is part of the Valley Line extension and is located southwest of the intersection of 75 Street and Wagner Road.

The opening of the 13-kilometre rail line connecting downtown with Mill Woods has been delayed several times. It is a $1.8-billion public-private partnership (P3) project.

The Valley Line LRT extension has been under the microscope since August 2022, when cracks were found in 18 concrete piers that support some of the elevated tracks during the city and TransEd’s final inspection in July.

TransEd said the cracks were caused by insufficient steel reinforcement inside the rebar of the piers.

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On Dec. 20, 2022, TransEd said all the cracked piers on the Valley Line had been repaired. However, the company has still not provided a start date for the project, which is two years behind schedule.

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