‘Thump, thump’ of new Cornwall development

A developer says neighbouring residents and office workers shouldn't fear the steady "thump, thump" noise emitting from the worksite of a new seven-storey residential/commercial building at the intersection of Sydney and Second streets.

JC Godard, president of Tri-Star Living, said Thursday that ongoing pile driving won't be powerful enough to damage nearby buildings.

Tri-Star began construction of the seven-storey Knox City Centre on Monday.

In addition to some neighbouring residences/offices on Sydney Street, there is the Service Ontario-Chamber of Commerce building on the north side of Second and the First Cornwall Place multi-office building to the east.

"We had a monitoring device placed on a building," Godard said.

Godard explained the force of the pile driving has only reached about 25% of the allowable limit.

He added that inspections were made on surrounding buildings to give a clear picture of their condition before pile driving began.

Pile driving was required because the soil "was too soft" to support a large building, unlike his nearly completed Kings Landing apartment building on Montreal Road East.

The pile driving is expected to finish in about three weeks.

Godard said there is an added construction cost when piles are needed, and he is grateful to the city's Heart of the City funding program for providing about $1.3 million in property tax relief.

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'Thump, thump' of new Cornwall development