National

Removal underway for huge crane blocking Vancouver street

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Aug, 2024 12:05 PM

A City of Vancouver official says a huge crane that crashed down on a busy street will likely be removed in two days, after blocking the route for more than two weeks.

Saul Schwebs says crews are "demolishing the crane, not salvaging it."

The chief building official says British Columbia's worker safety agency, WorkSafeBC, gave the green light for the operation on Tuesday, and debris should be cleared from the site by Thursday, although there may be further cleanup.

⚠️ TRAFFIC ALERT: Oak St & W 70th Ave sewer work

📍 Traffic lanes reduced on Oak St with at least 1 lane open each direction. Through-traffic along W 70th Ave. may be restricted.

🕐 Aug 22 - 27: 24/7#VanTraffic @yvrairport @Richmond_BC @TranBC @DriveBC @Translink @BCFerries pic.twitter.com/Ecn4PeVhb9
— City of Vancouver (@CityofVancouver) August 21, 2024

Schwebs says the aim is to restore bus services on the stretch of West 41st Avenue by Labour Day after the route sustained extensive damage in the crane collapse that occurred as a fire destroyed an apartment building under construction.

Trevor Connelly, deputy chief of operations for Vancouver Fire Rescue Services told a news briefing that the blaze that triggered the collapse and damaged nearby homes was accidental, although the exact cause remains unknown.

Miranda Myles with Vancouver's emergency management agency says the city is still supporting 15 people displaced by the incident.

The Aug. 6 fire in a six-storey building under construction in the Dunbar neighbourhood spread and damaged nine homes in the area.

Schwebs says the crane removal operation had been delayed by the need to preserve evidence for the investigation into what went wrong.

"We really want to learn some lessons from this," he said.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Hackers may have accessed 22 B.C. government inboxes, data on 19 employees: Farnworth

Twenty-two British Columbia government email inboxes with sensitive personal information on 19 employees may have been accessed during a cyber attack on the province's networks, the minister of public safety said on Monday. Mike Farnworth said there's no indication the general public's information was compromised and investigators have not identified any misuse of the information the criminals may have accessed.

Hackers may have accessed 22 B.C. government inboxes, data on 19 employees: Farnworth

Woman's body found in Chilliwack

Homicide detectives have taken over an investigation into the death of a 50-year-old woman in Chilliwack that they say is suspicious. R-C-M-P say officers responded to a sudden death at a city home on Sunday where they found the woman's body.

Woman's body found in Chilliwack

B.C. sets distance for drivers to steer clear of cyclists, scooter users, walkers

Drivers in British Columbia now have to meet minimum distances between their vehicle and people walking or riding on provincial roads. The new rules start Monday and require drivers to stay at least a metre away from vulnerable road users if the speed limit is up to 50 kilometres an hour, and a metre-and-a-half at speeds over that.

B.C. sets distance for drivers to steer clear of cyclists, scooter users, walkers

Feds create $530M fund for cities to adapt to climate change

Canadian cities and towns facing an uphill battle to stave off the effects of climate change will share more than half a billion dollars from a new federal adaptation fund. The Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation initiative will offer up to $1 million to local governments for projects that upgrade or adjust their infrastructure and natural environment to be more protected from extreme weather events including floods, fires and major storms.

Feds create $530M fund for cities to adapt to climate change

Elenore Sturko leaves BC United party for Conservatives to 'defeat the NDP'

Another BC United member has left the party to join the Conservative Party of BC just months before the provincial election. Surrey South MLA Elenore Sturko says in a statement that she's joining the provincial Conservatives to "rebuild the coalition that's needed to defeat the NDP."

Elenore Sturko leaves BC United party for Conservatives to 'defeat the NDP'

Vancouver driver arrested after crashing into vehicles, narrowly missing pedestrians

Vancouver police say they are recommending multiple dangerous driving and impaired driving charges for a man who crashed his car into several other vehicles and nearly hit pedestrians downtown last week. They say the driver of a white Mercedes allegedly "smashed into and sideswiped" a grey Mazda CX5 on Alberni Street around 10 p.m. on Friday.