The sky isn’t falling and neither is the Gardiner Expressway. But bits of it have been dropping off with alarming regularity, and a new report exposes the city’s ineffective inspections as a huge part of the problem.

That finding comes courtesy of the IBI Group, an engineering firm hired to look into what ails Toronto’s aging elevated highway. The firm’s independent experts found a host of previously undetected problems — areas where the structure’s concrete skin was cracking, loose and ready to pull away.

Obviously, the expressway isn’t as secure as previously thought. Indeed, it’s a “significant hazard to public safety,” according to the consultants’ report. That’s bad enough. But there’s another cause for concern: this vitally important analysis only came to light now through a freedom of information request by the Star.

Even Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee, was unaware of the report until the Star’s action. This level of secrecy on the part of city staff is excessive, especially on a matter of public safety.

That said, there’s no cause for panic in the consultants’ finding. It signals nothing like the disastrous roof cave-in at Elliot Lake’s Algo Centre Mall, or the overpass collapse in Laval, Que., which killed five people in 2006. The Gardiner is fundamentally sound. There’s no cause for any renewed, and misguided, calls to tear it down.

What’s falling off are pieces of surface concrete loosened over time through the action of ice, salt and rust eating at steel rebar. Yes, being struck by one of these stray splinters could still result in tragedy, but action is underway to fix the problem. Two key bureaucrats who had been in charge of maintaining the expressway no longer work for the city, repairs have gone into overdrive, and it’s now clear how safety can be improved.

The most significant revelation in the report is the city’s utter incompetence in checking for areas in need of fixing. This mainly consisted of walking along, on the ground, and looking up for chunks ready to fall. No wonder trouble spots went undetected and, therefore, unrepaired.

As reported by the Star’s Robyn Doolittle, the consultant relied heavily on a system called “hammer sounding,” in which concrete is struck and the resulting sound waves analyzed. Obviously, that stands to reveal more than just gazing at the surface. Toronto should make wide use of this technology and explore other investigative methods suggested by the consultant, such as ground-penetrating radar.

Minnan-Wong has indicated that the city will be asked to provide an extra $20 million a year for better monitoring and repair of the Gardiner. That would be money well spent.

Even so, parts of the expressway are more than 50 years old. And it’s impossible to guarantee, even with the best technology, that no loose piece of concrete will ever drop off again. Toronto can, however, do a lot better in preventing such falls — and it must in order to restore public confidence in the safety of the massive, but unloved, landmark that is the Gardiner Expressway.

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