Two weeks after the major building construction fire toppled the work site’s construction crane onto West 41st Avenue near Dunbar Street, the process has now begun to carefully and safely remove the crane over the roadway and adjacent residential properties to the south.
The City of Vancouver told Daily Hive Urbanized that a contractor began the process of removing the crane yesterday.
It is anticipated the crane structure will be cut and removed in small sections.
This process of demolishing and removing the crane is expected to take two to three days.
But it is not clear when West 41st Avenue, a major east-west arterial roadway across Vancouver, could reopen to vehicle traffic in the vicinity of the intersection with Collingwood Street. The City states that after the crane is removed, its crews will be able to assess the damage to public infrastructure and begin repairs.
The extent of the damage to the roadway and utilities is unclear, with the blaze’s flames reaching several storeys high producing extreme heat. When the heavy-duty crane fell, it had a direct hit on the roadway, based on video footage of the incident.
For more than two weeks at this point, major TransLink bus routes that typically travel on this stretch of West 41st Avenue have been forced to perform detours.
“Our goal is to minimize the impact on residents and traffic and complete all restoration work as fast as safely possible,” stated the City.
Construction crane removal process on West 41st Avenue at Collingwood Street. (City of Vancouver)
The falling crane also knocked out the neighbourhood’s electricity, impacting over 700 customers at the peak of the outage. The vast majority of these customers saw their power restored by the next day.
In addition to the residential property that was crushed by the crane on the south side of West 41st Avenue, some of the surrounding properties in the area also sustained fire-related damage. No major injuries or fatalities were reported.
The fire occurred at 5664 Collingwood Street (3449-3479 West 41st Avenue), which was set to be a six-storey, 77,000 sq ft building with 114 secured purpose-built market rental homes.
Dramatic footage of the building construction fire this evening at the northeast corner of West 41st Avenue and Collingwood Street in Vancouver.
The construction crane has collapsed south onto 41st Avenue and adjacent properties.
📷: Volante Mathesonhttps://t.co/XsMqpjADfZ pic.twitter.com/MlvhLLl0mb
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) August 7, 2024
Construction began in 2023 and it was set to reach occupancy by Spring 2025. At the time of the fire, construction had progressed to the completion of the sixth level’s wood-frame rooftop.
The project’s construction contractor was Graham Construction, and the design firm was Ciccozzi Architecture. Sightline Properties is the developer and owner.