Flying rock halts blasting on Red Hill
Resident worried about kids playing on nearby streets
By Natalie Alcoba,
The Hamilton Spectator
August 10, 2004
Blasting of the Niagara Escarpment for the Red Hill Creek Expressway is suspended because three homes were hit by flying debris. Two children were playing outside one of the homes, adjacent to Mount Albion Road, when pieces of rock hit the property.
Pieces of rock -- including some the size of a softball -- flew about 200 metres Wednesday, damaging a roof, a car windshield, a driveway and a fence, said Chris Murray, in charge of the Red Hill Valley project for the city.
The damage is estimated at under $10,000.
No one was injured, but the incident has caused concern among officials responsible for the project.
Blasting was immediately suspended, said Murray.
"The city and the contractor are reviewing the blasting methodology to ensure it doesn't happen again.
"Nothing will start until we're satisfied."
He said the Ministry of Labour and the city are investigating to see how the incident happened. Murray expects it will be up to a week-and-a-half before blasting resumes.
Contractors have been blasting portions of the rock face since the end of June.
The work is meant to create a cut 80 metres wide across the face of the escarpment for the expressway that will connect the Linc with the QEW.
Wednesday's blast occurred about 5 p.m. in an area west of Mount Albion and north of Mud Street.
A rubber blasting mat is put on top of the area being blasted to contain the material underneath.
"When the blast occurred, some debris was able to escape the corner of the mat," said Murray.
"Our concern is the fact that there were people living there and people outside when it happened."
Joe Porco, who lives on Davis Crescent, the street that was hit by the debris, said, "My kids play outside and if they were out there that day, who knows what could have happened.
"They could have been hit in the head."
Porco, who has lived in the new development since October, had never felt uneasy about the expressway work.
The street is often full of children playing, most under age 10, he said.
Porco was driving home from work on Wednesday when his wife called him about a blast that shook the house.
He didn't think much about it. But when he got home and saw the pieces of boulder, some the size of two fists put together, he thought differently. Driveways had holes the size of golf balls and fence boards were ripped out, he said.
The project managers from the contracting and blasting companies were taking pictures of the damage.
Porco, who said he supports construction of the expressway, said many of his neighbours don't want to delay work, "that way we can resume normalcy in life.
"But this is a concern because of all the kids." |
