LRT tunneling not resumed one month after Rideau sinkhole

One month after a watermain break caused a massive sinkhole on Rideau Street, work on the last 50 metres of the downtownlightrail tunnel remains at a standstill.

And there is no word when it will restart.

The diggingbeneath Rideau Street, just east of Sussex Drive, came to halt on June 8 when the tunnel flooded following thewatermaincollapse.

It took city workers 90 minutes to turn off the valves, during which time water poured into the tunnel.After the deluge, water stood at least two metres deep in some areas.

Crews from Rideau Transit Group the consortium building the $2billion lightrail linespent days pumping out the tunnel.

On Monday, June 20 the day the last of the wateradvisories were lifted for Rideau Street businessescity managerSteveKanellakos said in a statement that he expected excavation for the tunnel to restart that week.

That still hasn't happened.

No word on why tunneling is delayed

RideauStreet was reopened tobuses and taxis last weekend. And work on the undergroundRideau Station and the existing tunnel are "underway," according to a city emailattributed to Steve Cripps, director of the rail implementation office,sent to CBCFriday afternoon.

"Notification will be provided prior to the recommencement of tunneling near Rideau Station," the email continued.

No one from the city gave any reasons for the delay, nor is there any confirmation from any officials whether the sinkhole is related to the lightrail tunneling.

Rideau Transit Grouphas maintained that the sinkhole will not cause a delay in the LRT project, which is expected to be completed in July 2018.