A major milestone for any construction project is the removal of the tower crane. The process can be tricky but is also quite interesting to watch unfold. On Tuesday, workers at Tango2 in Concord Park Place began setting up a large mobile crane to remove the larger tower crane above piece by piece. 

The tower crane sits atop Tango2, image by Marcus Mitanis

The mobile crane lies on Esther Shiner Boulevard in North York, image by Marcus Mitanis

The 20-storey Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects-designed building accompanies the 31-storey Tango development directly to the south. The vast majority of Tango is completed as Tango2 continues both exterior and interior work. Both towers are part of Concord Park Place, a master-planned condominium community located in between Bessarion and Leslie subway stations on the Sheppard line. 

The mobile crane lies along the street waiting to be lifted, image by Marcus Mitanis

After all the required parts are on site, the jig of the crane has to be assembled by fastening each piece together. The image below depicts part of this process as a piece is moved into position. 

A crane piece is moved into place for fastening, image by Craig White

Workers then fasten the pieces together using pins and ensure that the connection is secure. 

Two pieces of the crane are fastened together with pins, image by Craig White

Once all the pieces are in place, the mobile crane uses hydraulics to pull the crane back and into the air. 

The crane mast begins to be pulled back, image by Craig White

The crane mast continues its ascent, image by Craig White

The crane is pulled back higher, image by Craig White

The crane mast, now approaching vertical, forms a triangle with the crane jib on the opposite side. 

The crane continues its vertical lift, image by Craig White

The cables connecting the truck to the jib will have to be pulled downwards to lift the jib high enough to begin taking down the tower crane. 

The jib will have to be raised to reach the tower crane above, image by Marcus Mitanis

The following three images were taken on October 7, 8, and 9. The last two from the vantage point of the 401 show the crane disappearing.

Tango2 with its sibling Tango in the foreground, image by Marcus Mitanis

Tango2 with its crane mostly down the following day, image by Craig White

Tango2 with its crane gone two days later, image by Craig White

As the crane is no longer available, any remaining building materials needed to complete the project will now have to be transported via the hoist elevator on the west side of the tower.

The removal of the crane atop Tango2 follows the official launch of the latest phase of Concord Park Place, called Omega on the Park.  The new North York community continues to make headlines as milestones are reached and ground is broken.

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