An equipment failure on the Evergreen Line truss is being blamed for shutting down North Road during rush hour Tuesday afternoon, the second incident to cause a road closure this year.
According to Evergreen Line construction manager Nasir Kurji, the truss, which is used to help build the SkyTrain line's elevated guideway, slipped while moving a piece of concrete into place near Foster Avenue. The equipment failure forced the closure of North Road while construction crews worked to reposition the beam on the truss. The road was re-opened at around 11 p.m. Tuesday.
"We don't know specifically what the nature of the failure is just yet," he said. "We do see the truss has moved slightly."
Nobody was hurt in the incident and construction was to resume once an investigation had taken place. A ministry press release also noted that the incident would not affect the construction schedule for the Evergreen Line, which is set to open in the summer of 2016.
This is not the first time that problems with the construction of the SkyTrain guideway have caused a road closure. In March, a section of Como Lake Avenue was shut down in both directions after a massive concrete beam shifted above Clarke Road.
Project director Amanda Farrell said at the time that a temporary spacer on the column on the southwest side of the intersection failed, causing the guideway to rotate.
Kurji said this week that the two incidents are not related.
"This is an issue with the launching truss," he said. "The other one was an issue with the guideway beam. They are not at all really related."
