Brickwork 1

[drawoh]

I was walking down Parliament Street towards the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto, Canada. This is a scary sight. I searched Google for this and I can find nothing.

--
JHG

 

[MotorCity]

I don't see a pile of bricks near the base of the building, so presumably someone has been picking up the bricks as they fall off and is aware of the situation (along with everyone else who walks by the building).

As long as there are adequate brick ties securely fastened, the brick fascade may not be in danger of peeling away from the building. As for the vertical load, it appears as the brick has chosen to resort to arching action above the missing bricks.

At the very least, I would expect water issues. At some point, it could cause a catastrophic collapse if enough water got behind the brick, froze during those Toronto winters, popped more brick off the wall

 

[EdStainless]

Looking at the stripe up the wall to the roof transition I believe that there is already a lot of water behind the brick.
It may be that the wall is failing and 'pushing' the brick off.
Surprised if a city inspector hasn't made a visit.

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[drawoh]

EdStainless,

I did not walk around to the side to see if the house was occupied. It is possible people already have been moved out of it. It is the end of a row of townhouses, so this is a mess.

--
JHG

 

[JAE]

Step 1 - get a lawyer
Step 2 - conveniently walk down the sidewalk at the same time a brick "falls" on your head.
Step 3 - call your lawyer
Step 4 - Collect cash

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[dik]

Can you take a bunch of photos, close up? to see where the source of water may be as well as the type of deterioration of the brickwork? Can you also post the address and the type of use for the building?

Dik

 

[IRstuff]

Must have gotten much worse since the Google Streetview photo was taken:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.648...4!1sHn1qsgv3smktqduXgeyJsA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[3DDave]

I just searched for "Caroline Co-op". This is the west end of the building.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.648...4!1sHn1qsgv3smktqduXgeyJsA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The Google date is Sep 2014. It looks like a repair was attempted before then.

I attached an image of the lower half of the building face from Google maps.

 

[3DDave]

Seems there is more to this:

 

[Ingenuity]

...Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto, Canada. This is a scary sight.

Off on a tangent...speaking of 'scary sights', the Gardiner Expressway was indeed scary when I lived in Toronto from 1989 to 1991 - I'm surprised it is still standing.

 

[drawoh]

dil

I was standing here when I took the photos.

The Gardiner expressway expressway was built in the fifties and sixties. It is getting old, and things fall off periodically. I did not notice anything that particular day. Urban activists regard it as a blight. In my opinion, it is not that bad. If you want to walk from King Street to the lake, the highway with cars running at 100kph (60mph) is elevated 50ft in the air. Everything is okay as long as they stay there.

--
JHG

 

[dik]

Ingenuity... I didn't see you there, must have missed you... The Gardiner was pretty bad, with salt corrosion just coming into the forefront... Toronto suffered from numerous freeze-thaw cycles... in Winnipeg once it freezes, it thaws in the spring... so not so many corrosion issues... Saw a large (12"x 12"x2" chunk fall off... didn't strike anything... They keep patching it and it all seems to be OK.

Dik

 

[dik]

DrawOH... thanks...

Dik

 

[epoxybot]

The property owners may be battling the city about who is responsible. If you swing 180 degrees from the view of the wall on google street view Link, you will see pallets of grout. If you then proceed around the building on to Longboat Ave. You will observe that the street has been torn up to do remedial work to the storm water system. Hard to say if one is related to the other. What is scary is the portion of the wall that bears the Caroline Co-Op signage is freestanding to about the chimney transition.