Sheppard Subway Construction Site (19 February 1999): It was about 8p.m. and I'd finished visiting a friend at Yonge and Sheppard (Toronto). I noticed that the normally teeming construction site was completely unpopulated. I wasn't dressed for it or equipped with a proper flashlight, but I couldn't really resist, so I pulled back a flimsy rubber fence and slid through. I waded through the soggy mud until I found a slope leading down into the pit. I slipped and slid most of the way down, but climbed down a few ladders as well where these were provided.
       I guess the tunnel — well, I suppose it's more of a pit than a tunnel, but it's a very deep, very narrow and partially covered pit — is about 40ft. or 12m deep. The top of the pit was covered in thick metal tubes. Cement had just begun to be poured into the tunnel in sections, but mostly I was walking through mud or on sheets of plastic. There were a fair number of structures to climb around on but nothing really fascinating. After touring for a while, I climbed out via a series of very shaky makeshift wooden ladders.
       The Sheppard tunnels aren't quite ready for primetime yet, but they're getting there. I'll be following the construction closely over the next two years so stay tuned.

"Deep Excavation" (happy face)... I guess they were just joking.